The 49ers opened Saturday with a flurry of roster moves, and the biggest names involved were George Kittle, Mykel Williams, Isaac Guerendo and Alfred Collins.
San Francisco general manager John Lynch announced that four players will start training camp on the active/PUP list: Kittle, Guerendo, Williams and Collins. Kittle is working back from an Achilles issue, Guerendo from a pec injury, Williams from an ACL injury and Collins from a shoulder injury.
Lynch sounded encouraged about Kittle’s progress, saying, “George’s rehab is coming tremendous. I know you guys have heard from him.
He’s doing really well. That’s very exciting.
He’s doing everything possible to be ready for Week 1. We’re thrilled with his process.”
He also addressed Williams’ recovery, saying, “What I would say with Mykel, he’s making every effort to be ready for Week 1. We’ll see if that’s a reality. We’ll let the markers and the medical staff kind of dictate that out.”
Collins, meanwhile, is expected back in “the second window. Don’t hold us to that, but that’s the plan right now. If he keeps hitting the markers, that’s about when Alfred will be back.”
Because they were placed on the PUP list before training camp, all four count toward the 90-man roster. They can’t practice until they’re medically cleared and taken off the list, though each one can be activated at any point during camp.
Saturday’s moves also included a change at tight end. The 49ers waived undrafted rookie Khalil Dinkins with a non-football injury, and Tanner McLachlan is taking his roster spot. McLachlan, a 2024 sixth-round pick out of Arizona, was most recently with the Bengals.
McLachlan brings size and speed to the position at 6-foot-5 1/8, and he posted a 4.61 in the 40-yard dash, which landed in the 87th percentile. His 10-yard split of 1.58 checked in at the 84th percentile.
Lynch also said defensive tackle Evan Anderson will be released at some point Saturday, with a corresponding move still to come. That move has not yet been announced.
In Other News...
George Kittle Just Shared A Wild Kyle Shanahan Fight Story
George Kittle has a way of turning even a casual offseason memory into a full-on locker room story, and his latest one goes back to a 49ers trip to Cabo years ago. The tight end was talking about a golf outing that included both families and a few drinks, when a playful exchange with Kyle Shanahan escalated into a moment that sounded more like a backyard dare than a coach-player relationship.
For San Francisco, stories like that are part of the backdrop to a season that always seems to carry a little extra personality under Shanahan and Kittle. The same article also circles back to the roster picture, including Dre Greenlaws emotional return to the facility and the buzz around Jacob Cowing as a potential camp standout, but the Kittle anecdote is the kind of thing that reminds you how loose and human this group can be before the real football starts. [Read more 🡒]
5 Young 49ers Could Force Their Way Into Camp Battles
Training camp has a way of turning depth-chart guesses into real competition, and the 49ers have a handful of young players who could make that happen before the pads even come on. Jordan James, Jacob Cowing, Romello Height, Kurtis Rourke and Ephesians Prysock all arrive with different paths, but the same basic challenge: show enough early to make the staff keep them in the conversation for roles that are still very much up for grabs.
For some, the opening is obvious. Cowing can help himself on special teams even before he proves more as a receiver, while Height is the kind of edge presence the 49ers have been searching for in the right situation. Rourke is trying to stand out in a quarterback room that already has established names, and Prysock has a chance to make life interesting in the secondary. James, meanwhile, is in the middle of a backfield race that could be decided by who looks most ready when camp starts sorting out the pecking order. [Read more 🡒]