Five 49ers to watch in 2024 preseason finale vs. Raiders

There seems to be little that can happen Friday night in Las Vegas that would change the shape of the 49ers’ regular-season roster.

While San Francisco will want to get something out of its final preseason contest, it's much more important for the team to escape the game without any injuries to key players that will carry over into the regular season.

The 49ers wrap up the preseason against the Las Vegas Raiders. Then, they must trim their 90-man roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players before Tuesday's 1 p.m. PT deadline.

One of the few positions where there is legitimate competition is at quarterback. Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs are aiming for the spot behind Brock Purdy on the depth chart.

“They're pretty tight, so I'm definitely not declaring it now,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Hopefully, they'll play out more in these practices and hopefully a little bit more in the game.”

We’ll save those quarterbacks for the end of this edition of Five to Watch:

TE Cameron Latu

The 49ers saw a lot of potential in Cameron Latu when they selected him No. 101 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

But it has been a struggle for Latu, who had a rough rookie camp and sustained a season-ending knee injury before the start of the 2023 campaign.

Latu appears to be getting more comfortable in his second training camp with the team, but he has yet to lock down a roster spot. In two preseason games, Latu has five receptions for 42 yards.

Behind George Kittle, it looks as if Brayden Willis and Eric Saubert have put themselves on solid ground for roster spots. The 49ers could keep a fourth tight end among one of the following: Latu, Jake Tonges and undrafted rookie Mason Pline.

RB Isaac Guerendo

Running back Isaac Guerendo sustained a hamstring injury early in the first practice of training camp.

He returned to practice this week. The rookie running back flashed the 4.33-second speed in the 40-yard dash that prompted the 49ers to move up in the draft to select him in the fourth round.

It seems doubtful the 49ers would expose Guerendo to waivers when teams must make their initial cuts to 53 players, anyway. But Guerendo should have an opportunity on Friday night to convince the organization he can be a contributor down the road.

LB Curtis Robinson

This is linebacker Curtis Robinson’s third training camp with the 49ers. He looks better than ever and has placed himself into a position to win a spot on the 53-man roster.

The 49ers have a solid group of linebackers with Fred Warner, De’Vondre Campbell, Dee Winters, Jalen Graham and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and 2024 seventh-round pick Tatum Bethune. Also, Dre Greenlaw is expected to make a midseason return from a torn Achilles.

Perhaps, Robinson has already done enough to win a spot. But another strong showing in a preseason game should at least give him an opportunity with another team if the 49ers take the chance of sneaking him through to the practice squad.

QB Brandon Allen

This is Allen’s second summer with San Francisco, and that background shows up in the way he looks comfortable going through his reads and making decisions.

Allen might have a narrow lead in the race to be the 49ers' No. 2 QB. He was the favorite for that spot after Sam Darnold signed with the Minnesota Vikings, and San Francisco made it clear they wanted Allen back on the team.

Allen has looked good on the practice field, which is basically all Shanahan needs to see. He led the 49ers to an opening-drive touchdown in the preseason opener.

In the first two games, Allen completed 14 of 23 pass attempts for 134 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

QB Josh Dobbs

Dobbs has shown an ability to scramble and make off-schedule plays. That’s a good thing, right? Not if he should’ve made a read quicker as part of the offense to get the ball out of his hands.

The 49ers scored three touchdowns in their first two preseason games, and Dobbs accounted for two of them on running plays. One was a scramble and the other was a designed run but ended with him making an acrobatic play to get into the end zone.

So the 49ers know that Dobbs has the ability to create some yardage when a play breaks down. Now, he has to prove to Shanahan that with more knowledge of the system he can run the offense as it’s designed.

Dobbs completed 26 of 41 passes for 279 yards while also gaining 31 yards and two touchdowns on four rushing attempts.

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