The San Francisco 49ers are officially halfway through their 2017 preseason schedule, and have wrapped up their open training camp schedule. There is plenty of evaluation still to be done, but practice is now closed to the media.
Now that we have reached this point, it is time to take a look at where the bubble watch stands. We have not done a formal bubble watch look since late June. We took a look at the potential 53-man roster Monday morning, but for the rest of the week, we will be taking a look at the bubble watch for each position. Today, we move on to the running backs.
Lock: Carlos Hyde, Joe Williams, Kyle Juszczyk, Matt Breida
Strong Bubble: Tim Hightower
Weak Bubble: Kapri Bibbs, Raheem Mostert
Longshot: Tyler McCloskey
The 49ers running back situation is kind of an odd one. Carlos Hyde is the starting running back, but the team is looking to some future options extensively. The team drafted Joe Williams and signed UDFA Matt Breida. Both impressed in the first preseason game, but then got very little playing time in the second preseason game.
It might be a little too soon, but I see Breida locked in to a roster spot much like Lorenzo Jerome. I had him as strong bubble in our June bubble watch. The fact that he played so little last week makes me think the coaching staff is fairly comfortable with where he stands right now.
The only other change I made was to bump Raheem Mostert from long shot to weak bubble. He has been the starting kick returner thus far. I would be surprised if he makes the roster, but he and Victor Bolden could be competing for one of the final roster spots as primarily a special teams player.