One of the things to fly under the radar in 2018 is the progress of San Francisco 49ers fourth round draft pick Kentavius Street. The 49ers drafted him in the midst of his recovery from an ACL injury and the defensive lineman was set to redshirt his rookie season.
But now he’s about to hit the field. Questions came up about Street in Kyle Shanahan’s press conference on Monday and he said Street could hit the field soon:
“Yes, something’s coming up this week. I don’t know the exact details on it, but he should have an option to practice here. He won’t be playing in the games, but we can have him out on the practice field soon ... I don’t know if that’s this Wednesday or next Wednesday. But, as soon as he can. He’s ready to go.”
Street was placed on the Non-Football Injury list (NFI) due to suffering an ACL tear in a pre-draft workout. When placed on the NFI list, a player can continue rehab work with the training staff and attend team meetings, but is not allowed to take part in on-field practice with the rest of the team.
The NFI rules are similar to the PUP rules in terms of when a play can return to practice and then to game action. A player on the NFI and PUP list cannot practice at all during the first six weeks of the regular season. After that, the team has the option of opening up a practice window for the player. Once the practice window is open, the team has another three weeks to active the player to the 53-man roster, OR place the player on injured reserve, OR release the player.
Street will get a chance to take part in practices, but there is no plan on activating him to the 53-man roster. Shanahan is excited about getting a chance to give Street some practice time. He said Street has, “been working his tail off with [head strength & conditioning coach] Ray [Wright], lifting too many weights. No, but he should be big, he can’t lift too many. But, we’re excited to get him out there and hopefully he’ll be good this week.”
Street is already a very, very powerful man, so adding more power is going to be something to behold.
Shanahan said the team has not determined his specific role at this point. Following the draft, John Lynch said they view him as a guy who can play both the big end role over the tight end, and the three technique role inside. For now thought, Shanahan just wants to see him get healthy and get him in the mix competing for next year.
“No because he’s not on the practice field at all. We just want him to get as healthy as he can be. We’re very excited about him. A lot of that stuff is interchangeable, just like the guys we already have. So, we’re excited to add him into the mix next year because we felt fortunate to get him. It’s tough to wait a year to have to wait for him to play. But, we loved his college tape and he’s been working his tail off to get healthy and I think he’ll be definitely in the mix next year.”