Breaking Down the 2021 49ers 53-Man Roster

The 49ers just announced their final cuts.

The 49ers just announced their final cuts as well as their 53-man roster for 2021.

Here are the final cuts:

1. Tight end Jordan Matthews

2. Wide receiver Travis Benjamin

3. Wide receiver Nsimba Webster

4. Cornerback Alexander Myres

5. Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix

6. Center Jake Brendel

7. Tight end MyCole Pruitt

8. Fullback Josh Hokit

9. Wide receiver River Cracraft

10. Defensive lineman Darrion Daniels

11. Guard Senio Kelemete

12. Linebacker Elijah Sullivan

13. Running back Wayne Gallman

14. Linebacker Justin Hilliard

15. Defensive end Eddy Yarbrough

16. Cornerback Dontae Johnson

17. Defensive end Alex Barrett

18. Offensive lineman Alfredo Guttierez

19. Offensive tackle Corbin Kaufusi

20. Safety Jared Mayden

21. Offensive lineman Colton McKivitz

22. Offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley

23. Quarterback Nate Sudfeld

Here is the 53-man roster:

Quarterback (2): Jimmy Garoppolo, Trey Lance

The 49ers were smart to keep only two quarterbacks, because Nate Sudfeld is not NFL caliber. He can sign with the practice squad and run the scout team in practice.

Running back (4): Raheem Mostert, Trey Sermon, JaMycal Hasty, Elijah Mitchell.

Cutting Wayne Gallman looks like a obvious mistake. He's an NFL caliber running back who most likely will get signed by another team. And the 49ers got rid of him to keep players at other positions who probably wouldn't have made other rosters. We'll see if the 49ers can sign Gallman to the practice squad. The good news is Jeff Wilson Jr. should return midseason.

Fullback (1): Kyle Juszczyk

Best fullback in the league.

Wide receiver (6): Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Trent Sherfield, Mohamed Sanu, Jalen Hurd, Jauan Jennings.

The 49ers kept Hurd because they spent a third-round pick on him, they've waited two years for him to get healthy and he's finally healthy. He hasn't actually earned anything, and he might not stay healthy for long, if history is any indicator. Hurd, Sanu and Jennings are replaceable.

Tight end (3): George Kittle, Ross Dwelley, Charlie Woerner

Woerner is replaceable. The 49ers should have kept Gallman over him.

Offensive tackle (4): Trent Williams, Mike McGlinchey, Jaylon Moore, Tom Compton

Compton is another replaceable player. In fact, he's the worst player on the roster. Heaven forbid he ever has to play in a real game.

Guard (3): Laken Tomlinson, Daniel Brunskill, Aaron Banks

Cutting Colton McKivitz was the right move, because he's terrible. The 49ers drafted him in Round 5 last year. Compton can play guard if the 49ers are really desperate.

Center (1): Alex Mack

If Mack gets injured, Brunskill will take his place.

Defensive line (11): Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw, Samson Ebukam, Dee Ford, D.J. Jones, Kentavius Street, Zach Kerr, Arden Key, Kevin Givens, Maurice Hurst.

The 49ers kept an extra defensive lineman this season because they have 11 good ones. Smart decision.

Linebackers (5): Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Marcell Harris, Azeez Al-Shaair, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

The 49ers traded undrafted free agent Jonas Griffith this morning to make space for Marcell Harris. They should have kept Griffith.

Cornerback (6): Jason Verrett, Emmanuel Moseley, K'Waun Williams, Deommodore Lenoir, Ambry Thomas, Davontae Harris.

Never heard of Harris. Legitimately didn't know he was on this team. Remarkable. He's another guy who's worse than Gallman.

Safety (4): Jimmie Ward, Jaquiski Tartt, Talanoa Hufanga, Tavon Wilson

Released Jared Mayden so they could keep veteran Tavon Wilson, which seems like a mistake. Mayden has potential to improve and Wilson doesn't. Hopefully for the 49ers, they can sign Mayden to their practice squad.

Specialists (3): Robbie Gould, Mitch Wishnowsky, Taybor Pepper

No surprises here.


Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.