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Which 49ers player landing on the IR would be the worst-case scenario?

Niners Nation · Kyle Posey · 2026-08-31T15:46:02+00:00 · nguồn gốc

The San Francisco 49ers’ 53-man roster is finalized — until they make another five or so moves today. With the team parting ways with long-snapper Jon Weeks and punter Corliss Waitman temporarily, there are a couple of roster spots that are up for grabs. Which 49ers player landing on the IR would be the worst-case scenario? The 49ers have 7 or 8 options who could land on the Injured Reserve as soon as today Unfortunately, the 49ers have several options on the roster to place on the Injured Reserve. We don’t know how severe some of these injuries are. What we do know is that you can designate up to eight players to return in the regular season — two of those were used on Christian Kirk and Austen Pleasants. Let’s take the linebackers, for example. Luke Gifford and Nick Martin are both dealing with hamstring injuries. Martin’s happened in the second preseason game, while Gifford sustained his injury early on in training camp. Keeping seven linebackers makes it feel like at least one of these players is destined to land on the IR. In the secondary, the 49ers have a pair of players who were in line to start nursing hamstring injuries. Renardo Green’s injury happened in the second preseason game, while Malik Mustapha has been out since the end of July. The team has been mum on both injuries. The lack of depth paired with the importance of both positions in Raheem Morris’s defense makes for a scary proposition if either were to miss time. The unknown for seemingly every injury leads to speculation. Kyle Shanahan said Vederian Lowe was an IR candidate along with Kirk. Lowe has missed a month with a high-ankle sprain. If he goes on the IR, that would mean rookie Enrqiue Cruz is the swing tackle, unless the team would shuffle the deck enough where the rookie wouldn’t see the field. Lowe isn’t the only player dealing with an ankle injury. Rookie Romello Height has had two ankle injuries in the past month. Height could return to practice on Monday. But he didn’t play in the preseason finale, making you wonder if it’s an injury that’ll linger into the regular season. There are six IR candidates, and we left out a couple. Rookie Ephesians Prysock (shoulder) and Nate Hobbs (groin) could easily be on the list. Which 49ers player landing on the IR would be the worst-case scenario? My answer: The obvious answer is Renardo Green. He’s the closest “matchup cornerback” the team has. Height would be a big blow to the 49ers’ pass-rushing depth. The options at edge are thin as it is, and that’s under the assumption that Nick Bosa will be ready to roll for Week 1 -- which is a dangerous game to play, knowing it’s unlikely he plays 80% of the snaps. But I’ll go with Malik Mustapha. You have Ji’Ayir Brown, Marques Sigle, and that’s the depth chart. The only defensive snaps Siran Neal played in the preseason were at cornerback. I’m sure Upton Stout could play safety in a pinch, but that would mean you move Deommodore Lenoir inside and Jack Jones has to play on the outside — moves most fans would probably root for. The point is the depth at the position is shaky. You’re one injury away from needing to uproot everything. Mustapha could stabilize that if he’s healthy. While Mustapha isn’t a lock to start, he has the best sample size as a pro (he was quite good as a rookie) and has the highest ceiling of the three safeties. In my mind, Mustapha is one of the wild cards on the 49ers’ defense this season and a player who could really help unlock the ceiling of this defense. Not having him early in the season would be detrimental to the defense. Who is your answer? Scroll down and let us know in the comments.