The 49ers’ 90-man roster has taken shape, and camp battles are already developing on paper with organized team activities due to open May 20.
Some positions won’t have a lot of competition. Jimmy Garoppolo is locked in at the top of the depth chart. So are players like George Kittle and Dee Ford. Other spots will have a ton of competition based on the personnel on the roster going into OTAs. This is our seven-part series on the biggest roster battles we’ll have an eye on throughout the offseason.
The 49ers’ front office made a significant gamble this offseason with their decision to retain the entirety of the team’s group of safeties from last season. They re-signed Jimmie Ward and Antone Exum, and didn’t add any other veterans or draft picks at the position. That signaled a belief in the players on the depth chart at safety. It also sets up a potentially fierce battle at the position.
There may not be roster spots at stake, but the starting roles will certainly be up for grabs starting in OTAs. Here’s a look at perhaps the most important position battle on the 49ers’ roster through these offseason workouts.
The contenders
Jimmie Ward – Year 6
Jaquiski Tartt – Year 4
Adrian Colbert – Year 3
Marcell Harris – Year 2
Antone Exum – Year 5
DJ Reed – Year 2
The low-down
Injuries kept the 49ers from ever establishing a firm pairing at safety last season. Colbert, Tartt and Ward all finished the season on Injured Reserve, and played a combined 24 games.
Two of those three would be the likely starters if everyone was healthy. Colbert had a very good 2017 season in limited action, but struggled as the team’s starter last year. Free safety is Ward’s best position, but he’s played just one full season in his five-year career and is already nursing a broken collarbone that will sideline him until at least the start of training camp. Tartt can play both spots, and is probably the team’s best all-around safety, but he’s played just 17 games in the last two seasons.
Injuries opened the door for Exum, Harris and Reed, although Reed’s best position is at nickel corner. Exum can play both safety positions and wound up starting seven of the 15 games he played in a season ago. Harris had an up-and-down five starts to finish the year, but flashed some potential as an in-the-box safety.
The door for the two starting positions is wide open, especially with the frontrunners all sporting massive question marks.
The prediction
It’d be unwise to forecast any two safeties starting 16 games for San Francisco. Even with a completely revamped medical staff, the injuries have piled up the last couple years at the position and the team hasn’t done a ton to address the issue.
Ward gets the early nod at free safety because he’s probably the best option at the position. Last season and early in his career he bounced around to different spots on defense, but this year the front office re-signed him to be a safety. Assuming he gets healthy by training camp and gets some snaps with the starting unit in the preseason, he should be the starting free safety for Week 1 in Tampa Bay.
For similar reasons to Ward, Tartt will be the pick at strong safety. He’s arguably the team’s best player there, and he’s fresh off signing a two-year extension last offseason. He also had one of the team’s two interceptions last year. If he’s healthy, he’s the top choice to start alongside Ward.
There’s a chance none of this goes the way it looks on paper though because health is such a fragile factor with this group. Colbert could step in for the injured Ward and look like a potential Pro Bowler like he did at the end of 2017.
Reed may do the same when he returns from offseason shoulder surgery. If the team decides K’Waun Williams is the best nickel corner, Reed could move back to safety to add options there. Exum was a steady presence at both safety spots, which may just be enough for the coaching staff as they search for any semblance of stability in the back end of the secondary. A Year 2 jump from Harris can’t be ruled out at strong safety either.
Ward and Tartt are the predicted starters, but this roster battle will be worth watching throughout the preseason.
