The 49ers opened Week 1 by releasing their first inactive list of the season against the Rams, and all six players on it were on rookie contracts. The group included Kurtis Rourke, Ephesians Prysock, Jordan James, Jordan Watkins, Tatum Bethune and Enrique Cruz.
That matters now because the 49ers roster for tonight leaves the club with only two running backs available, which is a thin margin in a game where the backfield is already expected to matter. Deebo Samuel was expected to play a pivotal role out of the backfield, and Brock Purdy was expected to spread the ball around, giving the offense a different shape before the first snap is even taken.
The list also shows how sharply the 49ers are leaning into veterans for the opener. With Watkins inactive, the wide receiver group is set with Mike Evans, De’Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing and KhaDarel Hodge, while the inactive rookies are the kind of players the team was not drafting to lean on in 2026. That is part of why Tatum Bethune’s absence registered as a mild upset: he was on a rookie contract like the others, yet he was also in the mix for a specific job on special teams.
Brant Boyer wanted a different body type on specific special teams units than Bethune, which helps explain the choice without making it feel routine. Kyle Shanahan had also said this past offseason that he regretted not involving more running backs last season, a comment that now reads differently with only two available tonight. The next test is simple and immediate: whether the trimmed 49ers roster can hold up against the Rams while the workload concentrates on the few players left standing.
