The San Francisco 49ers released their first unofficial depth chart the Tuesday before their regular-season opener on Sept. 7 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Keyword: unofficial.
For those asking, this depth chart is from the 49ers Football Communications staff, not the coaching staff. It even says "unofficial" on the announcement:
Heck, even "starters" on game day don't quite mean much. Snap counts usually indicate how much a player is valued, not whether he's on the field for the first play from scrimmage.
At any rate, and make of this what you will, there's a provocative takeaway from this opening unofficial depth chart.
And it's not exactly a bad thing for the Niners either.
Upton Stout apparently beat out Chase Lucas for starting nickel corner
During a preseason that seemed to have more worry points than anything else, one of San Francisco's better developments was that of veteran cornerback Chase Lucas, who was easily the team's preseason MVP after showcasing his playmaking abilities over all three exhibition games, securing himself a well-deserved roster spot as a result.
Prior to Lucas' emergence, the primary positive at nickel cornerback was rookie Upton Stout, who earned all kinds of rave reviews during training camp -- including a shoutout from former NFL star Richard Sherman -- before a calf injury shut him down for the rest of August.
Stout appeared to be on the fast track to start at nickel before the injury, but that setback opened the door for Lucas to make a name for himself, too.
Alas, though, it appears as if the third-round first-year pro is ticketed to be on the field first this season, giving way to Lucas in case of injury setback or on-field inability.
Lucas, of course, is listed as a backup for the full deployment of cornerbacks, though, and it's worth mentioning he spent all of preseason Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers patrolling the boundary instead of being over the slot. That versatility works in his favor, and there's a good chance he'd be the primary name called if there are any setbacks among the trio of starters: Stout, Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green.
Plus, as is mentioned before, this depth chart is unofficial anyway. For all anyone else knows, coordinator Robert Saleh might deploy Lucas the most when the regular season commences.