The San Francisco 49ers have been finalizing their roster cuts and putting together their practice squad. One of those names is Jeff Wilson Jr. A name some thought would have been long gone if cut Saturday.
There was a lot of speculation on what the 49ers would do with Wilson. I saw many of you thinking Wilson may have deserved a roster spot this year. With the loss of Jerick McKinnon for the second consecutive year, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to burn a roster spot for an additional running back. The Falcons have six on their roster. Especially when you remember Wilson came in off the practice squad as the season went on to take snaps when other running backs were injured. There’s also the fact he’s spent a year in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Well, imagine some disappointment when you see the final 53-man roster and Wilson isn’t on it. It wasn’t a bad assumption to think one of the 32 NFL teams would claim him off waivers as a backup running back. While Wilson was playing quite a bit in the fourth preseason game, he was still impressive. I mean, look at this play.
Fortunately, no one claimed Wilson. He passed waivers and is back on the practice squad. Now, that doesn’t stop him from getting signed later when a team has an opening on their roster to shoulder Wilson but for now, he returns to the 49ers.
The point of this is, was it worth burning a roster spot for Wilson? Right now the answer is no. The 49ers were able to get him through waivers and on the practice squad where he can be utilized until needed. They had some tough decisions to make on the whole roster which explains four tight ends, seven wide receivers, three safeties (well, until they put Kentavius Street on injured reserve that is), Wilson was one of those calculated moves that worked out.
There’s a lot of strange moves all front offices and coaching staffs make. Cutting Wilson was a smart one.