With the 49ers releasing their "official" depth-chart Tuesday, it got me thinking of who might be inactive on Sunday vs. the Packers. There probably won't be much variation to this, but you could go a few different ways.
The first question is about the QB position. Will the 49ers dress all three QB's? Is Scott Tolzien perhaps a possibility to be active on game-day due to Colin Kaepernick's usage in the read-option type plays?
If the 49ers do decide to use Kaepernick some on offense, it would make sense to have Tolzien be active in case one of the two QB's are hurt. If Kaep didn't play at all, it would be less likely he'd be injured and the team would be without a backup QB.
With Brandon Jacobs' injury, will the team still deactivate LaMichael James, something most predicted would be the case...but could be worth reconsidering with Jacobs' potential for being out.
After the jump I'll give my best shot at the inactives.
- Joe Looney
- Garrett Celek
- Brandon Jacobs
- LaMichael James
- Ian Williams
- AJ Jenkins
- Darcel McBath
So I decided to keep Tolzien on the active list. I have a sneaking hunch that Kaepernick may play a drive or two to get the defense guessing about the option runs and such. This exposes him to greater risk and would make Tolzien a good idea to have on-hand.
The Packers are a dangerous passing team, so it's difficult to have any CBs being inactive. The safeties don't rotate out much though, with CJ Spillman coming in on some heavy formations for short yardage.
I think a guy like Ian Williams wouldn't have much of a role in this game, even with an injury. The team will likely be in nickel package most of the day where penetrating defensive linemen are favored over large, immovable objects. Demarcus Dobbs and Will Tukuafu will both potentially have roles on offense and will certainly be looked at as backups in any case.
Haggans is active because there isn't another player who can play OLB in base defense. Dobbs could rush the passer in nickel, but Vic Fangio said he'd have a hard time playing true outside linebacker at this point. I originally had Haggans inactive in favor of Brock before I realized there would be literally no backup OLB.
It's a tough choice to be made. Perhaps Tolzien will in fact be inactive and Brock can get back on the field. He's a key special-teamer, or has been at times. I'm already starting to think this may be the case.