Black Saturday

No time for a fancy introduction, so here's a guess at how the afternoon's gonna go...

Cut (24): C Chase Beeler, QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson, DT Brian Bulcke, FB Jack Corcoran, CB Phillip Davis, T Derek Hall, WR Joe Hastings, WR Chris Hogan, WR Ronald Johnson, S Colin Jones, LB Alex Joseph, TE Nate Lawrie, WR Lance Long, S Chris Maragos, CB Cory Nelms, RB Xavier Omon, LB Kenny Rowe, NT Sealver Siliga, LB Monte Simmons, S Curtis Taylor, DT Will Tukuafu, CB Anthony West, T Kenny Wiggins, WR Dominique Zeigler.

I still think that both G/C Tony Wragge and rookie T Mike Person will make the team, giving them 10 linemen on the opening 53-man roster. I know that's a high number, but here are my arguments for it.

1) There's absolutely nobody else, with the possible exception of DT Will Tukuafu, who you can argue is one of their best 53 players.
2) Wragge hasn't done a thing to show he doesn't deserve a job. In fact, 2011 is the best he's ever looked. I would certainly trust him to play right now over rookie Daniel Kilgore.
3) Person has also been better than expected and I think he'd be snapped up by somebody if he was exposed to waivers. Maybe a 53% chance, but still too risky for me.
4) I keep reading that teams typically keep 11 offensive linemen between their active roster and practice squad. Fine. So who says they have to keep two or three of those 11 on the practice squad? Please tell me who outside of their top ten looked worth a damn? Chase Beeler sure didn't. You can argue for Derek Hall -- MAYBE -- and that's being extremely charitable. If you want to bring in practice squad guys from other teams, that's one thing, but if you want to keep your best 11 linemen from this 80-man roster, then absolutely Wragge and Person both have to be included.
5) Tukuafu is alright, but seven defensive linemen for a 3-4 team that's gonna play only two DL on half their snaps is too many. I think there's a decent shot he'll make it to the practice squad.

Injured Reserve (3): CB Phillip Adams, TE Nate Byham, LB Keaton Kristick.

Byham you know about. He tore his ACL on the second day of camp. Him not being placed on IR until today was a procedural thing. I have no inside info, but I think the team will do right by Adams by shelving him for another year. He fractured his ankle in service last season and clearly wasn't right in camp or preseason. He was trying to grit through it as best he could in order to make the team, but he can't cut on it or change directions at all. They may just cut him -- the NFL is a cruel business -- but Adams did show some potential last year and it's not like these guys are deep at corner. They could also decide to keep him, but he'd be wasting roster space until November at least, I imagine. Another year on IR would be best for both parties. Kristick was carted off with a left ankle injury he suffered Thursday at San Diego, and I have to think it's serious enough to be a long-term deal. He was looking at a practice squad spot at best anyway.

Speaking of which, here are my practice squad projections:

QB Adam Froman*
WR Chris Hogan
WR Ronald Johnson
T Derek Hall
DT Will Tukuafu
LB Alex Joseph
CB Cory Nelms
S Colin Jones

Froman, the former Louisville QB, was reportedly a guy the 49ers had interest in signing after the draft, but he chose the Falcons instead. As it turned out, they cut him and he's out there. I'd have to think he'd be worth a look over Bethel-Thompson, but the 49ers could very well opt to go with a more mobile QB, if for no other reason than to give their defense somebody to practice against for when they have to face a guy like Michael Vick or Tarvaris Jackson. I don't think the 49ers are that high on any of the other seven guys, to be honest. I'm sure they'd love to keep Xavier Omon, but I have a feeling he'll be on somebody's 53-man roster (he certainly deserves to be). The same may be true for Will Tukuafu. Neither Ronald Johnson nor Colin Jones have done a thing to deserve even practice squad jobs, but teams don't usually dump their draft picks that quickly. Chris Hogan might be more of a figment of 49ers beat-man imagination than an actual person at this point.