Four days before the 49ers opened their 2017 season against the Carolina Panthers, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced all of the starters he was confident in revealing.
The list is as follows: Quarterback Brian Hoyer and left tackle Joe Staley.
Across the NFL landscape, information is the most valuable currency, and even a first-year head coach who prides himself on being transparent with the media and fans wasn’t willing to divulge starting lineups.
While the vast majority of the 49ers’ week one starters are obvious, San Francisco’s starting free safety remains an uncertainty.
The 49ers’ 2014 first round draft choice, Jimmie Ward, is expected to play free safety in new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s 4-3 scheme, but Ward has been battling a hamstring injury that kept him out for the entirety of the preseason.
Ward practiced on Wednesday and Thursday, but Shanahan said the Northern Illinois product remained limited. On Friday morning, Shanahan said that Ward would be a game-time decision.
“He’s (Ward) limited and we’ll find out, that’s a game-day decision,” Shanahan said.
If Ward is unable to play on an every down basis, or if Ward can’t go at all, the 49ers will use either 2015 second round draft choice Jaquiski Tartt or rookie undrafted free agent Lorenzo Jerome.
When Ward returns, Tartt is expected to help the 49ers as an extra defensive back in the team’s dime package, which requires him to play much closer to the line of scrimmage. The challenge for Tartt this week was learning the intricacies of playing as a single-high safety in San Francisco’s base look, but Saleh said Tartt is capable of making the transition.
“It’s hard,” Saleh said. “You’re asking a lot of a player. You’re asking them to know two different spots. But, if there’s anyone who can do it it’s him. He is a smart football player and he does everything we’ve asked. He prepares the right way. So, we’ve got great confidence in him to be able to do that.”
If it comes down to Tartt and Jerome, it’s hard to foresee a scenario in which the 49ers give the undrafted rookie out of St. Francis University in Pennsylvania the start. Though Jerome was one of the pleasant surprises of the preseason for San Francisco and took more reps at the spot than his counterpart, Tartt is the more experienced defensive back who has a better feel for the speed of the game.
Still, Saleh said he was impressed by both Tartt and Jerome during 49ers’ practices during the preseason, and believes both players received enough reps at the position to succeed against Carolina.
“We feel like they got enough,” Saleh said. “They’re both really prepared. [Defensive backs coach Jeff] Hafley does an unbelievable job preparing those guys. With our defense, just because we are so in tuned to making sure players are fresh, everyone’s got to know more than one position anyway. Throughout OTAs and training camp they’ve been well prepared by their position coaches.”
The ideal scenario for San Francisco, of course, is having a healthy Ward. But because that likely won’t be the case, Shanahan and Saleh aren’t ready to make a call on who will serve as the 49ers’ last line of defense.