The San Francisco 49ers announced their team captains Friday afternoon, and there is a particularly interesting one of note. The team names a captain on offense, a captain on defense, and a captain on special teams. The 49ers offensive captain is Joe Staley, and the defensive captain is NaVorro Bowman. The interesting one is the special teams captain, who is wide receiver Aaron Burbridge.
Naming Burbridge a captain likely does not guarantee anything, but it strikes me as a very good sign for his roster chances. In roster projections, he’s generally been ignored for UDFAs like Victor Bolden Jr. and Kendrick Bourne. Younger players have to stand out on special teams to make the roster. With the first five positions of the wide receiver depth chart potentially filled by Pierre Garçon, Marquise Goodwin, Jeremy Kerley, Trent Taylor, and Aldrick Robinson, a sixth receiver absolutely has to stand out on special teams.
This is only one game, but I’d say “arrow up” for Burbridge for the time being.