49ers-Titans preview: 5 players with something to prove tonight

We’ll get our first look at several San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night, as they host the Tennessee Titans in their preseason opener. It’s unlikely we see many, if any, of the starters tonight. That doesn’t mean there won’t be meaningful football, though, as roster spots will be decided.

Here are five players fighting for roles this upcoming season.

Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson, De’Zhaun Stribling, and Deebo Samuel. Those are the four wideouts we can write in a Sharpie to make the roster. Without Ricky Pearsall, there’s room for another.

We’ve yet to see veteran Christian Kirk. The clock is ticking for Jacob Cowing, as he deals with a hip flexor that’s kept him out the past week. As much as some folks wanted Junior Bergen to become a thing during the preseason, the team would rather get a look at the other options on the team, as he was waived the day before the game.

That’s a signal that the team is comfortable with Watkins returning alongside Deebo, and potentially as the lead punt returner. It’s also a sign they’re not convinced Bergen can contribute meaningful snaps offensively. That’s where Watkins comes in—the same Watkins who was reportedly playing with Adrian Martinez, the fourth-string quarterback.

The former fourth-round pick missed his opportunity to make an impact as a rookie in 2025 due to injury. Now he’s in a situation where he can show the coaching staff he can make plays against a different colored jersey.

If you remember last preseason, Watkins had a big play before suffering a high-ankle sprain. Catching the ball cleanly has supposedly been an issue for Watkins in camp. If he can finish plays with his speed over the middle and in contested situations, that could be enough to cement a spot in the rotation, not just on the roster.

The last man standing will win the left guard job. For the past week or so, it’s been Robert Jones. That might say more about Connor Colby than it does about Jones, who missed 2025 with a neck injury.

Rookie Carver Willis is waiting in the weeds for his opportunity. He’s not going to win the job in Week 1 of the preseason. But Willis can certainly earn more reps with the starters as the preseason goes along. If Jones plays a series or two — he still has some rust to knock off himself — then Willis should play a quarter or two. And that’s just at left guard.

Willis should also see time at center, but until Jones is named the official starter, the 49ers will take a long look at him at left guard.

Jones is 28. He’s played nearly 2,800 career snaps. There’s no secret as to who he’s been during his NFL career. He’s the definition of variance at cornerback.

In baseball, the term “three true outcomes” gets thrown around colloquially. You either get walked, strike out, or hit a home run. Jones is the football version of that at defensive back. He’ll gamble and get beaten deep. He’ll guess right and come up with the interception or break the pass up.

It’s how you end up with a career completion percentage allowed just over 56% with 25 pass breakups and eight interceptions, but also surrender 14 touchdowns in the previous two seasons with an average of yards per target of 7.5.

Whether due to injury or dissatisfaction with Raheem Morris, it’s not hard to imagine the 49ers switching up their secondary at some point this season. They’re not going to do that if there isn’t another defensive back worth playing on the roster.

One of the reasons Seattle had such a special season last year was because they were seven deep at defensive back. If Jones can show he’s moved away from his boom-or-bust ways this preseason and is more Steady Eddie, he could see snaps during the regular season.

We can expect plenty of flash from Jaden Dugger and Larry Worth as they roam the field. The 49ers need to find out what they have in Nick Martin and if he can play in the event of an injury. He’s a third-rounder. That should be a starter—maybe not a Dominick Puni-level starter, but a starter nonetheless.

When the 49ers hosted running back Blake Watson for a visit this past Monday, I rewatched his touches against the Niners last preseason. Both of his highlight plays came when he made Martin miss twice. Martin needs to show that he’s more than a “run and chase” player. There’s more to linebacker than “see ball, get ball.”

You have to have instincts. You need to process what’s happening around you. You can’t expect to run around blocks and get away with it. It’s why Fred Warner has evolved into the very best at his position and why the Niners defense struggled mightily without Dre Greenlaw. Both players are ruthless when it comes to taking on blocks.

Martin is another player who should be on the field closer to a half than a series, if not more. Martin might be the player on the roster with the most to prove this preseason.

There may not be room for both of the undrafted rookie free agent defensive tackles to make the roster. One might even be a stretch. But James Thompson Jr. and Bryson Eason sure can give Kris Kocurek and the Niners something to think about.

My money is on Eason to make the roster. The preseason setting is perfect for his skill set. He’s listed at 315 pounds, although he weighed 323 pounds at the NFL Combine. Despite that, he had a broad jump in the 85th percentile. He carries his weight extremely well.

To me, one of the reasons the team moved on from Evan Anderson was his lack of range. The play needed to be at Anderson for him to be a factor. Eason got the best of Bengals rookie Dylan Fairchild a couple of times, a third-rounder, when the two faced off in college. In that game, you saw Eason display the range that Anderson lacked.

While he’s far from a pass-rushing threat, the tools are there where Eason can be just pesky enough. If he is anywhere as good against the run as he was at Tennessee during the preseason, Eason could sneak onto the roster.