The 49ers may keep most of their headline starters on the sideline in the preseason opener, but there’s still a roster fight worth tracking, and it’s tucked away at tight end.
Brayden Willis is back for his fourth season, and the familiarity works in his favor. A seventh-round pick in 2023, he has hung around, even if he has never felt like a true roster lock.
San Francisco even lost him and got him back along the way. Still, the bigger issue is how little he has actually played: just 86 regular-season snaps across three NFL seasons.
That opens the door for Josiah Deguara, the veteran the 49ers signed during training camp to push him. Deguara hasn’t exactly lit it up as a receiver - he has 53 career catches for 471 yards - but that is not really the point here.
He played 84 snaps last season and has 1,023 snaps overall, so he brings real experience. If he can handle special teams, line up properly and do his part as a blocker, he could be the kind of third tight end the 49ers want around if George Kittle misses time.
And that possibility matters. If Kittle is unavailable during the regular season, the 49ers would only have two tight ends ahead of Willis and Deguara. They cannot reasonably head into Week 1 with just Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges as the only active tight ends, which means even a one-week absence for Kittle could make both of these roster spots feel a lot more important.
Deguara does have one built-in hurdle: he arrived after camp had already started, so he has to catch up on the playbook while trying to beat out a player who has been around the offense since 2023.
Hayden Rucci is also in the mix, though he does not appear to be making the same kind of push as Willis and Deguara.
The first clue may come with who gets on the field first, and whether either of them works with the first-team offense if Kittle is held out of preseason action. Either way, special teams production could end up deciding it.
It may be the fourth tight end spot, but it is one of the more intriguing battles in 49ers camp.
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