49ers waive FB Alex Debniak, roster sits at 73 players

The San Francisco 49ers made a roster move on Tuesday, as they announced they waived fullback Alex Debniak. The 49ers signed the Stanford linebacker as an undrafted free agent on May 7, 2013. He tore his Achilles last summer and spent the season on injured reserve.

There is no reason given for the transaction. It was going to take a bit of a miracle for him to make the 49ers 53-man roster, and he was even a long-shot for the practice squad. The 49ers brought him in to convert over to fullback, in a similar fashion to Bruce Miller. Of course, given that the 49ers have Miller getting back to 100 percent, and also have Will Tukuafu on the roster, the fullback position was looking pretty full.

There has been no recent word on Miller's recovery from his scapula injury. The 49ers signed him to a 3-year extension this past March, so I have to think they're comfortable with his return. Prior to his injury, he had developed into one of Colin Kaepernick's favorite pass-catching options. That did come during Michael Crabtree's absence, so we have to take those numbers with that context. However, having that option in addition to Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis hopefully means some measure of stability in the passing game. We'll see how the passing game operates around Miller later this summer.