So last week we had some fun projecting the 49ers 53-man roster for the upcoming season.  A vast majority of the spots were easy to fill, but as we got to the last few guys in and out, things got a little dicier.  There are definitely a few guys on the bubble when it comes to filling out the roster.  So, I thought it'd be fun (or at least useful information) to try and project out potential cuts and practice squad players.  In order to do that, I did some research in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement on who is eligible for the practice squad.  After the jump I've included the specific rules, word-for word, but in the meantime here's the quick and dirty version. 

A player is NOT eligible for the practice squad if he one accrued season of NFL experience.  An accrued season occurs when a player is on full pay status for a total of six or more regular season games.  After two seasons on the practice squad, a player can be on it for a third year, only if his team has at least 53 players on the Active/Inactive List the entire time.  That's a little more confusing too me, so I've made some notes on some of the guys below to whom that might apply.

After listing every player I went through and sorted guys into four groups: 1) Pretty much a lock to make the 53-man roster; 2) Ineligible for the practice squad, so on the bubble of making the 53-man roster or being cut; 3) Eligible for the practice squad but somewhat of a chance of making the 53-man roster, so on the bubble of making the 53-man or practice squad; and 4) eligible for the practice squad, but slim to no chance of making the 53-man roster, so on the bubble between the practice squad and being cut.  I determined practice squad eligibility by going through player bios at the 49ers website.  Also, there were a couple guys on my projected 53-man roster that are definitely bubble guys, so I've moved them off and added them to one of the groups.  All the players listed are in no particular order.

1. 53-man/Cut
FB Zak Keasey, OT Alan Reuber, DE Melvin Oliver, LB Roderick Green, LB Dennis Haley, G Jeb Terry, DE Atiyyah Ellison, DB Marcus Hudson, DB Markus Curry, G Qasim Mitchell, QB Drew Olson, TE Cooper Wallace, DT Walter Curry.  The last three might be eligible for a 3rd year on the practice squad, but I'm not 100% sure.

2. 53-man/Practice Squad
LB Larry Grant, LB Jay Moore, WR Josh Morgan, RB Thomas Clayton, DT Joe Cohen, WR Dominique Zeigler

3. Practice Squad/Cut
WR Cam Colvin, LB Shaun Richardson, S D.J. Parker, S Lewis Baker, WR Robert Jordan, WR Jerard Rabb, G Brian De La Puente, DE Louis Holmes, G John Booker, TE J.J. Finley,  P Ricky Schmitt

If my information is correct, we have at least 17 and possible 20 guys eligible for the practice squad (depending on how Olson, Wallace and Curry fall).  As the groupings are currently set, there are 51 guys on the 53-man roster.  I removed Larry Grant and Josh Morgan to reflect their bubble status.  Damane Duckett would be in trouble if the team signs Barry Sims and he made the 53-man roster as Duckett is not eligible for the practice squad.  Other than that, I think that leaves roughly 51 guys pretty locked in to the 53-man roster (obviously not factoring in any potential injuries). 

So, the question becomes, who makes up the practice squad?  If he stays healthy, I wouldn't be surprised to see Robert Jordan stick around, as well as Shaun Richardson and/or Louis Holmes.  I'm going to say that Jay Moore bounces to the 53-man side of the bubble as my 53-man only has 3 natural outside linebackers (Lawson, TBC and Haralson).  It looks like Justin Smith will get plenty of time there but he'll be moving all over the place.  So for this exercise I see last year as like a practice squad year for Moore and will bump him into the 53-man.  I think Josh Morgan is a good bet to end up on the PS.  Thomas Clayton spent last season on the practice squad, but the signing of DeShaun Foster leaves him in a bad position, unless he can beat out Michael Robinson.  While he may be a more talented running back than Robinson, the team seems committed to turning Robinson into something of use.

In the end, the practice squad is much harder to project because you're inherently dealing with guys who are on the bubble as a whole.  Does the team want to keep some guys with a little NFL time around just in case, or do they go with young, fresh bodies?  For argument's sake I'll throw out 8 guys and wouldn't be surprised to get at least half of them wrong:

1. Josh Morgan, WR
2. Robert Jordan, WR
3. Shaun Richardson, LB
4. Louis Holmes, DE
5. Joe Cohen, DT
6. J.J. Finley, TE
7. Brian De La Puente, G
8. Thomas Clayton, RB

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Monday marks the beginning of 12 days of the 49ers organized team activities (OTAs).  As we head into the weekend, now seems as good a time as any to get a handle on what the June OTAs will bring to the forefront of discussion.  While this is not training camp, the rookies and other new 49ers have had a chance to absorb the playbook.  One would imagine this would create some separation in the eyes of the coaching staff.  We had a brief discussion about training camp battles in discussion the Ted linebacker position.  We will only briefly re-hash that, but for the most part this will deal with some of the other areas of clarity we can hope for over the coming weeks.

"Ted" Linebacker: The only change is that Ezra Butler will no longer be competing for this spot.  Speaking of which, Butler cleared waivers and was claimed by no other teams.  We'll see if he pops up later this year or takes some time in a smaller league to develop another chance.

ACL crew back in the house: Melvin Oliver, Joe Cohen and Manny Lawson all missed time last year due to torn ACLs.  While ACL injuries do take time from which to recover, these are all guys who could make some sort of impact in 2008.  Lawson is a guy who can hopefully help re-generate the pass rush that was missing, as well as bring a higher level of talent to the linebacking corp once again.  Oliver has been talked up for some time and with the most recovery time since his injury, will hopefully get a better chance to prove his worth finally.  Cohen will be battling for time at nose tackle and while he's behind Aubrayo Franklin and Ronnie Fields at the moment, count me as one vote for him doing some leap-frogging on the depth chart.

Chilo Rachal: Rachal has officially been moved to right tackle for the three weeks of OTAs.  It seems that part of this is the belief that he can man the tackle position, but also the fact that there is a big-time depth problem at tackle.  If Rachal can prove his versatility, that would be huge considering the potential for injury issues on the line.  It certainly helps that he's not being asked to take over the blind side at left tackle.  I'm curious what everybody here thinks.  Assuming Rachal ends up playing 7-10 years in the league (just for argument's sake), does he spend most of that time at guard or tackle?  Obviously it depends on the team he's with and the need that develops.  Injuries throw a monkey wrench into anybody's plans, and for now I see this as simply an insurance move.

Free Safety: So Mark Roman had a "minor" shoulder surgery and will be held back for the first week of the OTAs.  It's being reported that Dashon Goldson will get the first team snaps in his place.  While the post-draft minicamp doesn't tell us a whole lot, Goldson supposedly looked solid.  Roman is 31 and still can make an impact, but it certainly wouldn't hurt for Goldson to continue improving.  Considering the wide receiver talent in the league, you can never have too much secondary depth.

Quarterback: There will obviously be plenty of opportunities to discuss the QB position for the 49ers.  It is the position that has created the most drama and will continue to do so until somebody steps up and grabs the proverbial bull by the horns.  I mention it in this section simply because McNolan has indicated they want to have an idea of their #1 guy by the end of OTAs, so that guy can get the majority of the #1 team snaps in training camp.  Rather than go into detail on my thoughts here, I'm just going to leave it at that.  Between now and training camp I'll be throwing out a solid sized post to bring in all the quarterback arguments.  There is just too much to be said to bring it up at this point.