Golden Nuggets: The 49ers are the fourth-oldest team after 53-man cutdowns

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Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Monday, September 7, 2020

It’s officially game week. We’ve made it.

Ranking NFL teams by age after 53-man cutdowns: 2020 edition

Previously, the youngest teams in the NFL were as follows:

• 2019: Miami Dolphins

• 2018: Cincinnati Bengals

• 2017: Cleveland Browns

• Every year from 2012-2016: St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams

The Atlanta Falcons, who are always among the oldest teams in the league, have the oldest roster this year.

By the time you read this, this data will already out of date as teams continue to make tweaks to their rosters, although even with continued roster movement, the average ages of each team shouldn’t change much. Here are the results, with a recent historic look at the average ages of each team on 53-man cutdown day:

Will 49ers’ Deebo Samuel face the Cardinals? Doctors plan a ‘summit’ to decide

Perhaps the biggest surprise on the 53-man roster was linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who played safety at Arizona and converted to his new position last year.

Lynch called Flannigan-Fowles a “top-rate” person.

“We think he’ll be able to contribute in a big way on special teams and will always be improving because he’s relentless to be the best he can be,” he said.

Why 49ers’ John Lynch liked Johnathan Cyprien’s practice squad mindset

“It made me a little nervous, but also at the same time, I wouldn’t want someone who was just OK with just making a practice squad,” Lynch said of Cyprien.

“He competed hard, as did all these guys did to be a part of the 53.”

“It made me a little nervous, but also at the same time, I wouldn’t want someone who was just OK with just making a practice squad,” Lynch said of Cyprien.

“He competed hard, as did all these guys did to be a part of the 53.”

Why the 49ers Won’t Name Emmanuel Moseley a Starting Cornerback

Why are the 49ers, or actually why is Shanahan so adamant on keeping the starting job at No. 2 corner an open competition?

It is because he wants either Verrett or Witherspoon to win the job because those are HIS guys. That is why the 49ers won’t name Moseley as the starter.

Shanahan wants to be able to say that HIS guy won the job, not some undrafted free agent they just plucked down the line.

My claim is not baseless. All you have to do is recall towards the end of last season. Witherspoon was getting toasted with every pass thrown his way, yet the 49ers continued to roll with him as the starter. Even when Moseley bailed them out in Week 17 against the Seahawks, the 49ers still had the nerve to give Witherspoon the start in the playoffs against the Vikings. How did that workout?

SF 49ers: How Kerry Hyder increases his role after making 53-man roster

And Kocurek didn’t hesitate to sing Hyder’s praises this offseason.

Despite registering just two sacks since that breakout 2016 campaign, Hyder has still been effective with pressure. Last year, he managed 10 quarterback hurries on the season, and some would argue pressure can be just as effective as a sack, even though the latter is obviously the much more coveted stat.

San Francisco isn’t expecting Hyder to get back to that number of sacks. But considering Blair regularly hovers around five or six sacks per year, it’s not out of the question to see someone like Hyder get onto this kind of trajectory split over those first six weeks.

At least that might be the expectation for him.

Clowney reportedly joining Titans is great news for 49ers

No, San Francisco didn’t pull off the surprise signing of NFL cutdown day; Clowney never was a realistic consideration for the 49ers, being outside of their price range. But where the pass rusher did end up is a lot better than it could have been for the reigning NFC champions.

Clowney’s decision to join the Titans is a fortuitous development for the 49ers. Had he signed with the Saints or re-signed with the Seattle Seahawks, one could make the case he would have been playing for one of San Francisco’s two greatest threats within the NFC, and there’s a strong chance the 49ers would have faced him two or even three times in the season ahead. Now in the AFC, the only way the 49ers will see Clowney is if they face the Titans in Super Bowl LV.

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