The NFL is set to shorten the 2020 preseason from four games down to two while the league tries to make up for practice time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the league eliminating the first and fourth preseason contests, the 49ers will start training camp on July 27, host the Raiders on August 21, visit the Bears on August 29, and start the regular season on September 13. While the circumstances for the truncated preseason aren’t what 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan envisioned when he said he’d prefer to play just two preseason games instead of four, there are still some benefits for San Francisco’s pre-season roster.
Perhaps the most vital aspect of the shortened preseason will be the added practice time for the 49ers’ rookies. They bet big on a pair of first-round picks in the 2020 draft — defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk — who’ll both need to contribute right away if the 49ers are going to return to the postseason.
Rookies generally get a rookie mini-camp along with a host of other offseason activities to begin working within their new system and integrating with their new teammates. COVID-19 has pushed the NFL to an exclusively online offseason program for players and coaches. While the transition should be a little easier for a defensive lineman like Kinlaw, it’ll be more difficult for Aiyuk with less practice time. Getting rid of a preseason game to add an extra week of practice will provide valuable reps for the new 49ers’ wide receiver.
The other first-year players will also reap the benefits of more practice, but there won’t be two more important than the pair of first-rounders. Undrafted rookies will perhaps gain more from the added opportunities than any of the 49ers’ trio of Day 3 draft picks since their reps will already be limited while the team acclimates its more certain roster options.
Practices are generally more important to player evaluation than preseason games, so getting more practice should be helpful for the 49ers’ coaching staff as they work through some of their tougher roster decisions. Starting right guard will be a pretty fierce competition in camp, as will the race for roster spots at wide receiver. There are openings on the lower portion of the depth chart at several positions where players will ultimately separate themselves in practice.
Coaching staffs leaning more on practice than games is why players who might be outstanding in the exhibition games don’t wind up making the roster. Practice provides a more controlled environment where coaches can see how players respond in certain situations or against certain personnel. Preseason games are typically not game-planned and the level of competition is too uncertain to glean much from a dominant performance.
There’s also some addition by subtraction. Eliminating two preseason games cuts down on the number of snaps players have to play, although the first preseason game is usually limited action for key players, and the fourth one is either limited or no action. Still, taking away any number of preseason snaps is ultimately a benefit for player health. Consider that offensive tackle Shon Coleman was supposed to be the team’s swing tackle last season, but missed the entire year because he fractured his right fibula and dislocated his ankle during the first offensive series of the preseason.
It’s nearly impossible to keep players healthy in such a violent sport, but getting rid of two games — even of the preseason variety –makes it easier to do so.
The trimmed down exhibition slate won’t be all good news for San Francisco and their 90-man roster.
While practices are generally where roster spots are earned, there is some benefit to preseason games. One player who’s in a close position race might separate himself with a particularly strong preseason game. A player might also play his way out of a spot if he practices well and simply doesn’t respond in live action. A controlled practice environment has its upsides, but there’s something to be gained from matching up against an opponent in another jersey. Those opportunities will be severely limited by cutting down the first and fourth preseason games, especially for players on the fringes of the roster.
Ultimately playing two fewer preseason games has more upsides than downsides for the 49ers this offseason. Nothing is going to be particularly easy or normal while the NFL tries to navigate through a pandemic, but adding practice time is one thing that should ultimately help San Francisco in their quest to return to the Super Bowl.
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