Here’s some quick observations of the 49ers’ first official depth chart of the season. A reminder, most of the times this depth chart is put together by the PR staff and it shouldn’t be written in sand. But it does give us a good gauge on where things stand before the Houston Texans arrive in Santa Clara Friday for a joint practice
- Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert are listed as co-starting quarterbacks. The team really is not tipping their hand on which guy they favor — unlike the Browns’ adoration with RGIII. To be fair to Chip Kelly, both quarterbacks have had their good days and their bad days.
- Torrey Smith, Quinton Patton and Bruce Ellington are listed as the starting wide receivers. Kelly ran close to 65 percent of his formations with three wide receivers last season and it’s a good bet both will be on the field quite a bit, although Jerome Simpson is making a strong case for himself in training camp.
- Vance McDonald is listed as the starting tight end, followed by Garrett Celek and Blake Bell as co-backups, Bruce Miller and Busta Anderson as co third-stringers and good ole Je’Ron Hamm is on the fourth team. McDonald had a red-zone touchdown from Kaepernick in 7-on-7’s Tuesday.
- Shaun Draughn is the second-string running back in a very heated competition to be Carlos Hyde’s backup. Draughn does not look 28-years-old. His shiftiness and hands give the 49ers a really different change of pace.
- Joshua Garnett and Anthony Davis are both listed with the second unit. Kelly really should give both a ton of playing time this preseason. Garnett missed a good chunk of the offseason program and Davis will have clumps of rust to shed off before Week 1.
- Starting defensive linemen: Arik Armstead are the defensive ends and Mike Purcell is in the middle. DeForest Buckner is listed with the second string. If Armstead takes a big jump this season, the 49ers front seven has a chance to be pretty dang good.
- The three-way competition at inside linebacker continues with all three members listed as co-starters. Do to the non-tackling nature of training camp, it’s extremely hard to tell if Ray-Ray Armstrong, Gerald Hodges or Michael Wilhoite is ahead in the competition, but the 29-year-old Wilhoite did have 85 combined tackles last season in 12 games.
- Jimmie Ward, as we predicted, is listed as the starting outside cornerback alongside Tramaine Brock. He’s simply just too good of a cover corner to solely be playing nickel — even though he may switch inside depending on matchups.
- Eric Reid and Antoine Betha are the starting safeties. Defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil will have to be creative to get Jaquiski Tartt on the field.
- Ellington is listed as the kick and punt returner, but expect to see rookie Bryce Treggs get significant time at both spots on Sunday.
Here’s the entire depth chart:
