49ers have the third-deepest roster in the NFL

Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire went through the 11 deepest rosters in the NFL, and the San Francisco 49ers were third behind only the Chiefs and the Ravens:

For the defending NFC Champions, there were not a ton of needs to address. The 49ers created one when they traded DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts for a first-round selection, but they addressed that need immediately, adding Javon Kinlaw with that pick. Wide receiver was not a glaring need, but they traded up in the first round to select Brandon Aiyuk from Arizona State. This team also added one of the game’s premier left tackles in Trent Williams, acquiring him in a trade with Washington. Also, we have not addressed backup quarterbacks yet, but Nick Mullens might be one of the more intriguing.

On the defensive side of the football, the second unit might not have the overall depth as some of the other teams on this list, but there are some solid players, such as D.J. Jones and Kentavius Street upfront, and Jason Verrett in the secondary.

I laughed a little when mentioning the depth of the Niners Mark hit on, who I’d call a starter in Jones, and three players that likely won’t see the field in 2020. Depth is missing your starting receiver for possibly two regular-season games and being able to replace him with a second and third-round pick in recent years. That’s not factoring in the experience Kendrick Bourne gained last year, or Dante Pettis and Trent Taylor.

Depth is when your prized free-agent linebacker goes down in the middle of the season, and you can replace him with a rookie without missing a beat. San Francisco played against the Falcons without three of their four starters in the secondary and still should have won that game. When I think of depth, it’s offseason arguments about which of the handful of running backs are best suited to get touches. San Francisco has one of the stronger rosters in the NFL, and they proved it last season. Hopefully, after the 2020 season, we’re focused on talking about the starters as there were no injuries.