The San Francisco 49ers are wrapping up their offseason, with training camp set to get going on Thursday, July 27. With the help of SB Nation’s other NFL sites, we have been previewing training camp for the 49ers 13 regular season opponents. You can view all of them here.
Since we still have some time before the preseason gets going, I thought it would be fun to keep going and look at the other 19 NFL teams. The 49ers will play four of them in the preseason, while the remaining 15 will not appear on their schedule outside of a potential playoff appearance. But, it is helpful to continue getting a better handle on the NFL this season.
Today, we wrap it up with the 49ers final preseason opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers. Our friends at Bolts from the Blue put together a look at the various roster changes and storylines to track heading into camp.
The 49ers and Chargers play each other in the preseason every year, or at least almost every year. This marks the 31st straight season the two teams have squared off. This also is the 15th time in 16 years it has marked the preseason finale. The battle of California preseason game is cool and all, but as a DC resident now, that 7 p.m. PT kickoff is absolutely brutal.
That fourth preseason game features the least amount of time from starters, with many just sitting out the game entirely. It will potentially be even more the case this year because there is no longer a cut to 75 players two days before. In the past, teams cut from 90 players to 75 players on Tuesday, played the preseason finale, and then made the final cuts to 53 players on Saturday. With all 90 players available for that final game, expect all sorts of bottom of the roster players getting most of the playing time.
Notable free agent additions: OT Russell Okung, S Tre Boston
Notable free agent departures: OT King Dunlap, OG D.J. Fluker, WR Stevie Johnson, CB Brandon Flowers
Trades: N/A
Draft picks expected to contribute as rookies: OG Forrest Lamp, WR Mike Williams, CB Desmond King
Biggest offseason addition: OT Russell Okung
Biggest storyline heading into training camp: Aside from the obvious fact that the Chargers are playing in Carson instead of San Diego this year, the biggest storyline is that the offensive line will have new starters at as many as four of the five positions.
Under-the-radar storyline heading into training camp: It will be interesting to see how the defense which was actually pretty good last season does under new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley who will have them moving from a base 34 to base 43 defense.
Notable injuries heading into training camp: Somehow, there are not really any notable injuries for the Chargers heading into training camp (save some nagging issues for first round pick Mike Williams).