SANTA CLARA — The 49ers have released their inactive players for Week 1’s showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.
90 minutes 'til kickoff! ?? pic.twitter.com/m0jtNEpTAN
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 13, 2016
UPDATE: Additionally, the offensive line drama continues with Anthony Davis, who will not start at right guard. Days after reports surfaced of his retirement, we still aren’t sure if he’s refusing to play the right guard position or the 49ers are punishing him for the retirement stunt days before the season by benching him. This dramatic game of cat and mouse between Davis and the 49ers has been going on since April, and frankly, it’s starting to become petty. Who is the boss here? Now is Trent Baalke the one getting jerked around?
Andrew Tiller will start in place of Davis and the 49ers are confident in his abilities following a strong training camp.
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The interesting name on the inactive list is rookie Joshua Garnett. Unless he suffered an injury in Saturday’s practice that was unavailable to the media, something’s up here. That would make the first round pick a healthy scratch, a puzzling situation unpredictable just a few days ago.
We saw this coming with Garnett and noted it in June. He missed the early portion of the offseason program while he was still finishing classes at Stanford and the competition is thick on the line. The 49ers signed left guard Zanes Beadles, and both Tiller and Davis were strongholds at right guard, Trent Brown is an emerging piece at right tackle. All of a sudden, Garnett might’ve found himself the odd man out on a deep offensive line.
Let’s give the rookie a chance before burying him on the depth chart, but there were a slew of rookies who played in Week 1, and a handful of them played well. Baltimore’s Ronnie Stanley and Tennessee’s Jack Conklin — both offensive linemen — both held their own as starters. But No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff will also be inactive alongside Garnett on Monday.
The tough part about Garnett is that the 49ers need first round picks on the field. This year is going to be mostly about developing young talent. If Garnett had knocked Chip Kelly’s socks off, he’d be on the football field. How is he expected to grow as a backup in year one?
This Garnett story was unexpected an hour before kickoff, for sure. The 49ers are fortunate they have a deep offensive line.