49ers preseason week 3; What to look for against Houston

The 49ers will wrap up their preseason on Thursday night when they face off with the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. 

Here are five areas to watch against the Texans.

Trey Lance

The game against Houston will mark Lance’s final data point in an up-and-down training camp. As his head coach has stated, the first-year starter has had his good days, and he’s had his bad days. 

Facing one of the better defenses in the NFL daily, Lance has completed 57% of his passes while accounting for 13 touchdowns, ten passing, and three rushing. On the downside, Lance has also thrown 12 interceptions. 

According to Kyle Shanahan, Lance will play anywhere from a couple of series to the entire first half versus the Texans. How long he stays in the game will entirely be up to his level of performance. It will be a short night if he can get the offense in a rhythm early.

Things to look for: Kyle Shanahan was asked after practice Tuesday afternoon what he wants to see from Lance against the Texans.

“I want to see him execute his job as well as he can,” said Shanahan. “Get the team in and out of the huddle right, call the plays right, get the ball to the right spot, when he can’t get it there, make sure he doesn’t have a turnover and possibly makes a play. But just play the position the right way.”

Offensive line

Jason Poe was the big story coming out of practice on Monday and Tuesday. After going undrafted, the undersized offensive lineman from Mercer University has worked his way up the 49ers depth chart. 

Poe has shown offensive line coach Chris Foerster enough to earn snaps with the first unit during both practices this week. He is likely on the roster bubble, but it’s hard not to be impressed with his quickness, power, and doggedness.

Things to look for: Look for the 49ers starting offensive line to play early on, including Trent Williams at left tackle and Colton McKivitz at right tackle. McKivitz will start in place of Mike McGlinchey, who is dealing with knee irritation.

A 2020 fifth-round draft pick, McKivitz has gone from not being on the 53-man roster last season to the 49ers top backup at tackle. 

Running Backs

In back-to-back years the 49ers have selected a running back in the third round, leading to a bit of a dilemma. 

If you were to take the names and numbers off the jerseys, it’s unlikely that Trey Sermon and Ty Davis-Price, the two backs selected, would be among the top four. 

The problem for Sermon and Davis-Price is they routinely miss holes by choosing to bounce plays outside, keeping the positive yardage to a minimum. 

On the other side, a pair of undrafted backs, JaMycal Hasty and Jordan Mason, have consistently shown the ability to make big plays. Hasty and Mason run downhill with little wasted movement and are effective out of the backfield.

Things to look for: Will Mason get snaps with the first-team offense? Can Sermon or Davis-Price show they’ve learned from their mistakes in the first two games?

Veteran Jeff Wilson Jr. is expected to get the start against Houston. After dealing with injuries last year, Wilson Jr. looks to have regained his explosiveness. That, along with his versatility, appears to make Wilson a lock to make the final roster.

Secondary

Emmanuel Moseley returned to practice in full this week, and Deommodore Lenoir appears to be ascending. 

Samuel Womack had focused on playing inside for most workouts, but the rookie did get some looks on the outside this week. The rookie played on the boundary during his collegiate career, making this a smooth transition. 

On the back end of the secondary, San Francisco added safety Tashaun Gipson on Monday. The veteran quickly got up to speed and will likely be on the field with the second unit. 

Things to look for: Undrafted rookie free agent Qwuantrezz Knight has been impressive recently. Knight has shown himself to be strong in coverage while playing in the slot and has been able to acquit himself nicely at safety. Can he fight his way onto the roster?

Roster Bubble

Thursday night will be the final time for players who find themselves on the bubble to show why they belong. All teams must cut their rosters down from 80 to 53 by Tuesday. 

Once final cuts are completed, teams can build a 16-player practice squad. 

Players on the bubble:

Nate Sudfeld and Brock Purdy. Who will be the backup to Trey Lance? 

Trey Sermon, JaMycal Hasty, Jordan Mason. If the 49ers go with only five backs, which two of these miss out?

Malik Turner, Willie Snead, Marcus Johnson, Tay Martin. Do any of them show enough for the 49ers to carry six wide receivers?

Ross Dwelley, Tyler Kroft, Troy Fumagalli. Who does enough to win the third tight end role?

Jason Poe, Nick Zackelj, Justin Skule. Do the 49ers choose to go with nine offensive linemen for the first time since 2018? Will they keep an undrafted player over one they took in the six-round this year? 

Jordan Willis, Kerry Hyder. Willis plays special teams, but Hyder does not. Can Hyder make enough plays to overcome this?

Marcelino McCrary-Ball. McCrary-Ball has the skill to be an NFL linebacker. Can he make himself indispensable?

Ambry Thomas, Tarvarius Moore, Tariq Castro-Fields, Qwuantrezz Knight, Tashaun Gipson, Dontae Johnson. The 49ers should be able to get Johnson through waivers and onto the practice squad once again. Thomas is hurt, so he will not be able to play against Houston. Will Gipson show enough to unseat Moore as a backup safety? How about Knight?