With the “dress rehearsal” preseason game over, several questions have answered themselves, but many more have cropped up. Over the preseason games thus far, bubble players Raheem Mostert, Victor Bolden Jr, and Kendrick Bourne have each had a game that has added some uncertainty at the bottom of the RB and WR depth charts. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Mostert was the star of Sunday’s game, putting together a monster stat line in relief of the presumed lock RBs.
Fortunately, if you happened to miss the game like yours truly, beat writers all over the net have all kinds of scoops for your reading pleasure. Highlights of the game include QB Brian Hoyer completing his first 9 passes (for ~160 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT), 8 tackles for LB Reuben Foster in the first half, an 87-yard catch and run for RB Raheem Mostert, and SAM LBs Eli Harold and Dekoda Watson “paying tribute to Ahmad Brooks by each jumping offside” (h/t Jeff Deeney via Matt Barrows).
Some dates to keep in mind are Thursday the 31st, and Saturday the 2nd (4:00pm EST) - the final preseason game and cut-down deadline, respectively. This year, the NFL has removed the intermediate cut to 75, leaving one major 90-to-53 cut in the aftermath of the last round of exhibition games. With the kind of games we’ve seen from some of the borderline talents, the upcoming week should be a heck of a show. The following Sunday, after 1pm EST, 10-man practice squads can be put together. Interestingly, but slightly off topic, it seems that the NFL will allow an 11th slot on the practice squad (for the NFC South teams in 2017) as part of the “International Player Pathway” program, which designates foreign-born players as asterisked PS guys - they can’t be promoted to 53-man rosters during the upcoming season.
To the good stuff -
The importance of special teams for UDFA rookies | Inman, Mercury
[TRANSCRIPT] Interview with Eric Reid, resuming kneeling | Inman, Mercury
Impressions from third preseason game | Inman, Mercury
Hamstring discomfort for Jimmie Ward actually a good thing | Maiocco, CSN Bay Area
Instant analysis from game 3 | Maiocco, CSN Bay Area
Analysis of game 3 | Crowley, KNBR
Mailbag | Barrows, Sac Bee
Stock watch after game 3 | Barrows, Sac Bee
On the 49ers starters in game 3 | Wagoner, ESPN
Overview of game 3 | Wagoner, ESPN
Takeaways from game 3 | Biderman, Ninerswire
“Game wrap” | Biderman, Ninerswire
49ers impressive early on in game 3 | Branch, SFGate