Ten Days To The Cutdown, And The 49ers Expect To Play A Number Of Starters

The 49ers play the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT. KPIX CBS 5 carries it in the Bay Area, with the radio call on KNBR (680 AM / 104.5 FM) and The Bone (107.7 FM). The club's game listing, read Thursday morning along with its schedule page, adds a free in-market stream on 49ers.com and the 49ers App and NFL+ for anyone outside the Bay Area. It lists no national television window.

Ten days after Thursday's game the roster goes to 53. One preseason game follows this one, at Las Vegas on August 27. That is the arithmetic every snap below is read against.

Nobody from this site is at SoFi Stadium. Everything here is sourced to published, dated reporting and to the club's own pages, and every jersey number was taken from the official roster page Thursday morning.

Kyle Shanahan said a number of starters will play, and did not say for how long. "Not all of them, but I expect a number of starters to play, unlike last week," he told reporters after Tuesday's joint practice in El Segundo, per David Bonilla at 49ers Webzone on August 18. "I haven't told them yet, but they'll find out soon." Asked whether Brock Purdy would play, Shanahan said, "Haven't told him yet, but there's a good chance." He put no series count or snap count on any of it.

The offensive line, where the only vacancy is#

Carver Willis, No. 74, and Connor Colby, No. 75, at left guard. The club lists Willis as a rookie out of Washington and Colby as a second-year player out of Iowa, and they have been splitting the first-team left guard work. Willis took the first-team reps in El Segundo on Tuesday. Defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. also wears 75, so on the offensive line, 75 is Colby.

Robert Jones, No. 65, at right guard. Dominick Puni, No. 77, was on the club's did-not-practice list Tuesday with a concussion, which is the last participation information anybody has published; Wednesday was a walk-through closed to media. With Puni out, Jones has been the first-team right guard.

Drake Nugent, No. 66, and Doug Kramer Jr., No. 58, at center. This is the one job on this board with nothing written in it. Jake Brendel, No. 64, is 33 and in his ninth season and is the only true center among the linemen this tracker projects, and Brett Toth, No. 78, was on Tuesday's did-not-practice list with a concussion. Against Tennessee, with Brendel out of uniform, Nugent took all 44 of the first unit's center snaps and Kramer took the second unit's 33, per Kyle Posey's snap chart at Niners Nation on August 14. Kramer shares 58 with defensive lineman Quinton Bell. The board this beat maintains keeps ten offensive linemen and currently has nine of them written in. This is the tenth.

The skill positions#

Kaelon Black, No. 26, running back. The rookie practiced Tuesday in full pads for the first time since Day 6, having been out with an adductor injury, and the club's recap has Shanahan saying he will "most likely" play Thursday. Purdy on watching him: "You could tell there's a different level of intensity when he touches the ball." Christian McCaffrey (soreness) and Jordan James (rib) were both on Tuesday's did-not-practice list, so the carries are there to be taken.

De'Zhaun Stribling, No. 15, wide receiver. The rookie caught two red-zone touchdowns Tuesday, one from Purdy and one from Mac Jones on a contested ball in the right back corner of the end zone. Shanahan afterward: "Those were two good plays. He's competing every day."

Jordan Watkins, No. 17, wide receiver. Second season, and the man this board has outside a room that keeps six. Christian Kirk (calf) did not practice Tuesday.

The front and the secondary#

Alfred Collins, No. 95, defensive line. Second season, and the question is not whether he plays but whether his snaps come against first-team offensive lines.

Ogbo Okoronkwo, No. 59, defensive line. Signed August 5, ninth season, and outside the 53 on this board. He sacked Will Levis for eight yards against Tennessee. The room he is playing into was missing three men Tuesday: C.J. West entered the concussion protocol, and Nick Bosa (soreness) and rookie Gracen Halton (ankle) did not practice.

Marques Sigle, No. 36, safety. Second season, in a group that keeps four, with Malik Mustapha out Tuesday with a hamstring.

Ephesians Prysock, No. 35, cornerback. The club's roster page lists him in his rookie year, and running back Sincere McCormick wears 35 as well. Nate Hobbs, No. 22, was on Tuesday's did-not-practice list with a groin injury, which leaves cornerback reps for somebody to take.

What the night cannot settle#

The quarterback order matters for a reason that has nothing to do with Purdy. Kurtis Rourke, No. 14, was on Tuesday's did-not-practice list with a rib. If he cannot go, the back half belongs to Adrian Martinez, No. 4, and the third quarterback job gets decided by one man being available.

Bonilla reported the next full practice is most likely the weekend in Santa Clara, leaving Thursday night and one game at Las Vegas as the evidence for a decision due August 30.

Sources: San Francisco 49ers official schedule page, Ways to Watch and Listen (August 17), roster page, transaction log and the Day 14 training camp recap (August 18), all read Thursday morning; David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone, August 18; Kyle Posey, Niners Nation, August 14.