The San Francisco 49ers face the San Diego Chargers in their preseason finale, and it will be a game in which we see some reserves getting significant playing time. The final preseason game is when we see a lot of starters rested, getting ready for Week 1.
Chip Kelly met with the media Tuesday morning, and he mentioned plans to rest some starters. Blaine Gabbert will be sitting, but more importantly, some of the first team offensive linemen will rest. He was asked if Kaepernick will get time with the first team offensive line:
“No, I mean, we’re up against it. And the fact that he missed those two games, it’s unfortunate. But, we also have to look to the long-term future of the team, so there’ll be some guys, and again, we haven’t finalized any of that so I won’t be able to give you all of this and that of who’s going to go, but it’s not going to be the same line that he played behind when we played Green Bay.”
My guess is Joe Staley and Zane Beadles sit, and potentially Daniel Kilgore as well. Kelly was asked who the second team tackles were, and he said Colin Kelly and Fahn Cooper. Kelly has been handling left tackle work behind Staley, and so we very well might see him start on Thursday. If I had to guess the starting offensive line for Thursday, I would go with Kelly, Joshua Garnett, Marcus Martin, Anthony Davis, Trent Brown. We could see Brown get a rest, in which case Cooper would take his role. That is going to be an interesting one to track.