The 49ers are heading toward cutdown day with a roster that still has a few live wires attached, and the uncertainty is concentrated in the places you’d expect: injuries, fringe depth and a handful of young players trying to force their way through the door.
At cornerback, the picture remains messy. Of the six players in that group, Hobbs looks like the toughest call.
He has barely practiced this camp and already comes with a long injury history. The original idea was for him to give the 49ers nickel depth behind Stout, and that role is still there if he can handle it.
But Robinson has age on his side and showed flashes after his rookie camp - and season - were thrown off by a broken forearm. Recent side workouts were encouraging for Hobbs, and if the team does go that direction, there’s a decent chance Robinson gets tucked away on the practice squad.
Luter, meanwhile, has had chances over three seasons in the organization, but the additions of Jones and Prysock this offseason have pushed him to the edge. He also doesn’t play nickel, which only sharpens the question of where he fits.
One of the more intriguing names in the mix is Jaden Dugger, whose path has been shaped by a lot more than football. On Jan. 23, 2023, his brother Dajuan died in his sleep at 24.
Dajuan, the oldest of five siblings, had played quarterback at Division II Lock Haven University and set the tone for Jaden, Dalen and Julian, who is now a sophomore quarterback at Washington State. Dugger said, “Time makes it easier, but you never forget,” Dugger said.
“Some days are harder than others. … Something like that is terrible, but I feel like it taught me a lot about myself.
I kind of feel like I’m not playing the game for myself anymore. I definitely was before.”
That background is part of why KJ Wright sees something special in him. Wright was sold by Dugger’s instincts while studying film, especially a reverse in which Dugger reacted like he had already heard the play called in the huddle. Wright made that clip the second play in a highlight reel he showed to Kyle Shanahan, arguing that the former wide receiver, cornerback, safety and pass rusher is really a linebacker - raw, yes, but with real star potential if he gets the right seasoning.
“He’s going to be a guy that will anticipate plays and see them before they happen,” Wright said. “That’s just a gift he has.
It’s hard to coach. You just have to have the gift.”
Dugger says his versatility used to feel like a problem rather than a strength. When Louisiana moved him from the secondary to the defensive front, he didn’t exactly embrace the switch.
“It was like, ‘Dang, I’m a safety. Why are they switching me?’” he said.
That feeling has changed, and so has his outlook after Division I rejection, family loss and the doubts scouts had about what position he even was. Now he has a real chance to become something more than expected.
Elsewhere, Matt Maiocco’s 53-man projection ahead of the 2026 NFL season points back to the same issue hanging over the roster: the medical reports. Shanahan said the 49ers are trying to balance availability with readiness as they prepare for their trip to Melbourne, Australia, to face the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, Sept. 10.
“That’s why you want as long as possible,” Shanahan said. “They’re moving it up this year on Sunday with us leaving for Australia so soon. So it just makes it a little bit harder to guess where those guys are going to be.
“Most of our guys, besides Ricky, are going to be all right. How good are they going to be Week 1?
How good are they going to be Week 2? Those are things we’ve got to balance out.”
And on the defensive line, there’s at least one young player making a strong case to stick. Dinkins earned praise for the way he handled the dirty work, starting with his second snap, when the team trusted him to stay in and help in pass protection. He ended up assisting Brandon Parker against a defensive lineman, then on the next play drove a safety about seven yards downfield.
Later, on Jordan James’ 17-yard run, Dinkins got to the linebacker and sealed him off to help spring the play. Even if he never develops into a real receiving threat, he’s the kind of sixth-round prospect this regime has liked before. The effort is obvious, the blocking is violent in the best way, and the fit looks clean.
Dinkins, in other words, has done enough to look like a keeper. He should be around on the practice squad.
In Other News...
49ers Already Have A Trent Williams Successor Debate Brewing
The long view at left tackle is already coming into focus for the 49ers, and ESPN analyst Jordan Reid helped put a name to the conversation by sliding Stanfords Niki Prongos into his 2027 NFL Mock Draft as a possible successor to Trent Williams. Prongos is still very much a projection, but the intrigue is obvious for a team that has leaned on Williams for years and now has to think about how it eventually handles one of the most important spots on the line.
Reids take paints Prongos as the kind of raw, high-upside prospect NFL teams love to track early, with the size and athleticism that fit the position and the technique still needing polish before he can be viewed as a true first-round caliber player. For the 49ers, the appeal is less about the mock itself than the broader reality underneath it: Williams is getting older, and the next chapter at left tackle may already be taking shape just across the Bay in college football. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Face A George Kittle Decision They Can't Rush
George Kittle is back on the field in a limited way after the Achilles tear he suffered in January, and that alone gives the 49ers a welcome hint of progress as they inch toward the start of the season. Activated from the PUP list, he has taken part in practice, but only in a restricted capacity, leaving San Francisco to balance the obvious value of getting its top tight end moving again with the reality that recovery timelines do not always bend for opening week.
Kyle Shanahan has made it clear the team is not about to force the issue, even with a season opener in Australia against the Rams looming. Kittle still has not joined full team drills, and Shanahan has framed the situation alongside other injured 49ers such as Mykel Williams and Nick Bosa, a reminder that San Francisco is trying to protect more than one important piece as it sorts out who is truly ready for Week 1 and who still needs more time. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Have A Practice Squad Chance To Address Edge-Rusher Concern
With roster cuts complete and the 49ers down to 53 players, attention has shifted to the next layer of the buildout: a 17-player practice squad that still needs to be filled, including one International Player Pathway exemption. Isaac Alarcon holds that exemption spot, and the team is also weighing familiar depth options such as Khalil Herbert, KhaDarel Hodge and Ogbo Okoronkwo as it sorts through the broader group it may want available for the trip to Australia.
For San Francisco, the practice squad is more than a holding pen right now. Edge-rusher depth remains a real point of interest, and one name worth monitoring is former Ravens pass rusher Adisa Isaac, whose injury history makes him a more complicated fit but also potentially a useful one if the 49ers want to keep adding bodies to that position. The next few moves should say a lot about how aggressively they plan to protect themselves from that concern. [Read more 🡒]