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The San Francisco 49ers have a strong roster in 2025, which helped them overcome injuries to several key players and still make the postseason and knock out the defending Super Bowl champions in the wild-card round.
With all of that talent, it means that the 49ers also have some players sitting on the bench this year who are capable of playing important roles for the team if necessary or would possibly start on another team.
In fact, ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently released his All-Backup Team for 2026, and San Francisco had two players on it: linebacker Luke Gifford and safety Marques Sigle.
"The Niners provide two depth pieces on defense," Barnwell wrote. "Gifford isn't someone teams want to have on the field regularly as a defender, but he's a valuable special teams contributor, which is where he'll be useful for our team. Sigle began last season as a starting safety for the 49ers before eventually fading into a backup and special teams role as the year went along. We're taking a shot on him improving in Year 2."
With all of the injuries on defense last year, especially at linebacker, Gifford played 172 defensive snaps, which was the second-most in his seven seasons. He also played well enough in the third phase of the game to make his first Pro Bowl. That's important depth.
Sigle was San Francisco's second fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and after starting early in the year with Malik Mustapha recovery from injury, he ended up playing very little after Week 8. There's a chance that Sigle turns things around in Year 2 after a full season in the NFL, but he has to show an improvement in training camp first.
More 49ers: 1 49ers player to watch at each defensive position in training camp
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers have two of the best depth players in the NFL at two positions
