SANTA CLARA — Cuts are days away. The season opener is in two weeks. The Niners don’t seem particularly ready for either, but at least the preseason is over.
Here are the studs and duds from Saturday’s exhibition finale, a 30-23 Niners win, which was, more importantly, the last chance for players to show they deserve to play for this team in September
STUDS
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Jordan Elliott, DT
» It’s hardly ideal that Elliott was playing on Saturday, but if you’re a veteran being asked to play serious snaps in a third preseason game, you might as well make flash plays.
Elliott was a game-wrecker in the middle against the Chargers’ second and third-string offensive lines. If he was on the roster bubble, he should have played his way off it Saturday.
Thomas Morstead, P
» His 51-yard punt, his fourth amid eight total punts in the first quarter, was such a beauty that returner Luke Grimm (nominative determinism with his chances to make the roster) couldn’t handle it. The Niners certainly upgraded at punter this offseason.
Tanner Mordecai, QB
» At least one No. 4 had a good game.
The ball started moving when he came in for the injured Connor Bradley. Neither of the quarterbacks we saw Saturday will make the regular-season roster, but Mordecai would be a good practice-squad option for the Niners.
Nick Martin, LB
» He played snaps from scrimmage in the second half (it seems as if first-string special-teams players weren’t asked to go double duty in the first half) and immediately forced a fumble. He also had a great run stop in the backfield. In short, he popped. There are still countless questions bout the rookie linebacker, but there’s no denying that he brings some boom with the bust and has improved throughout training camp. It’s an encouraging trajectory.
Jeff Wilson Jr., RB
» The trade for Brian Robinson had little to do with Wilson, but the Niners have to keep the veteran, right? He looked really good on Saturday.
DUDS
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Jake Moody, K
» What are we doing here? He missed another kick Saturday, pulling an extra point left of the uprights. In the third quarter, he put a kickoff so far out of bounds that it nearly took out a cheerleader.
Moody didn’t “win” the kicking competition, and he isn’t worthy of a roster spot. If he hadn’t been picked No. 99 in 2023, he’d already be out the door.
The Niners are issuing a textbook case of the sunk-cost fallacy and are doubling down on it with every game Moody plays.
Saturday must be his last game in a 49ers uniform.
Connor Bradley, QB
» That was a tough watch Saturday. It was even tougher for him to play through, as he was battered and beaten behind a porous offensive line.
Matt Hennessy, C
» The 49ers’ depth center might have put out the worst performances of any player with a chance to make the roster in camp. (At least Moodt made a few.) Saturday was another woeful performance where he failed to block, snap the ball cleanly, or adjust protections (which, to be fair, I doubt the Niners allow him to do). There’s simply no reason for him to make the 53-man roster. If he does, it’s a big red flag heading into the season.
Isaac Guerendo, RB
» The Niners issued a vote of no-confidence in the second-year Louisville product on Friday, when the team traded for running back Brian Robinson.
Guerendo made the Niners look oh-so-smart with his performance Saturday. Guerendo might be a weapon in outside zone runs, but in an offense that’s going to run more gap-scheme runs and inside zone, it’s clear that No. 31 lacks the vision and tight-window running ability necessary to show off his prodigious running talent.
To his credit, Guerendo did have a nice special teams play to cap the first quarter, leading the coverage unit down the field, but then he injured his shoulder on the play. He returned and continued to do little.
Skyy Moore, WR
» An ugly drop, questionable punt returns. He had one nice kick return, but Moore hardly impressed in his 49ers debut. Junior Bergen couldn’t do that?
Junior Bergen, WR
» Oh, I guess he couldn’t. Bergen muffed a fourth-quarter punt in the most emphatic of ways. At least he’ll be easy to get onto the practice squad, now. That’s if the Niners even want to bother keeping him around.
Evan Anderson, DT
» He’s a serviceable player, but you can’t pick up two flags in a preseason game when you’re on the roster bubble. Do the Niners have enough bodies to knock him off the 53?
Drake Nugent, C
» The Niners tried him at center again after a surprisingly impressive stint at guard, and he almost allowed Bradley to be killed on a blitz from linebacker Marlowe Wax. For a team that’s looking for answers on the interior of the offensive line, he missed his opportunity this preseason to prove that he is one.
WR coach Leonard Hankerson and the 49ers’ offensive coaching staff
» How many illegal formation penalties did the Niners have Saturday? I lost count after four. I understand the field was littered with soon-to-be cut players and new guys, but San Francisco’s sloppy play did little to discourage the idea that this team isn’t ready for Week 1.