When the San Francisco 49ers play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4, there will be plenty of familiar faces on the opposing sideline. A total of six former 49ers players are currently with the Cardinals in some capacity, though not all of them will play on Sunday.
Quarterback Blaine Gabbert will be inactive as he is the third quarterback on Arizona’s depth chart, while guard Alex Boone won’t play due to a pectoral injury he sustained in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys. Boone is a recent addition after the Minnesota Vikings made him a surprise cut at the start of the season.
Beyond those two though, there are still four former 49ers players who figure to see the field plenty in Week 4. Those are left guard Mike Iupati, safety Antoine Bethea, kicker Phil Dawson and punter Andy Lee.
Of those players, I think Lee was the most-liked by 49ers fans. Him leaving the team was rough, though I personally was a big fan of Bethea. The veteran safety isn’t a starter, but is the third safety on the field and the Cardinals run plenty of formations that feature him.
Then there’s Dawson, who is a very good kicker even at 42 years old. He was solid for the 49ers as a very reliable kicker. He didn’t suffer from nerves and given the 49ers’ struggles on offense, he saw more than his fair share of work in his time with the team.
Iupati is a weird one, because he was never quite as good as the 49ers hoped, but when he was playing at a high level, he was absolutely dominant. He had some injury issues and the 49ers let him go in free agency, though the left guard spot has been fairly poor since.
He’s missed the past two games with a triceps injury, but it seems likely he’ll return against the 49ers on Sunday. If healthy, he’ll obviously see the most action of any of the players listed here because he’ll rotate right into the starting lineup.