From Matt Maiocco

49ers announce 20 cuts to get to 53-man limit

The 49ers reduced their roster to the 53-man limit just minutes ago, but that does not mean everybody with the team today will still be here on Sunday.

The 49ers released T Jacob Bender, T Alex Boone, WR Dobson Collins, DL Pannel Egboh, TE J.J. Finley, CB Eric Green, OL Kyle Howard, CB Terrail Lambert, FB Brit Miller, NT/OT Khalif Mitchell, LB Jay Moore, TE Bear Pascoe, WR Maurice Price, FB Bill Rentmeester, LB Justin Roland, RB Kory Sheets, OL Matt Spanos, OL Joe Toledo, LB Mark Washington and WR Dominique Zeigler.

Lot’s of surprises.

1) The one sure to have the fans upset is Kory Sheets. Sheets an undrafted rookie looked fantastic during pre-season/training camp. However lets face the facts; he was behind Gore, Coffee and Robinson…carries were going to be sparse. Secondly Thomas Clayton looked great every off-season that success never carried to the NFL. Hopefully he’ll slip through waivers and join the practice squad.

2) The bigger surprise to me was that Pascoe, Finley, and Miller were cut. I don’t buy that a team that says it’s committed to running the ball would only keep two tight ends and one fullback. Especially when you consider that Delanie Walker is more of a WR then tight end. I can guarantee the Niners are looking to find someone on waivers.

3) The cuts of Bender, Boone, Toledo and Spanos leave the Niners painfully think along the offensive line. By my count they only have 8 offensive lineman on the roster (Staley, Baas, Heitman, Richal, Synder, Wragge, Sims, Wallace.) Again expect a waiver pickup. Watch the Jaguars cuts closely and see if Tony Pashos is cut.

4) The fact that Ricky Jean-Francois and Diyral Briggs made the team shows the Niners are not confident about their pass rush. Francois is developmental but Briggs played his way onto the team with his strong play.

5) WR is still a cluster…you know what. Morgan, Bruce, Jones, Battle, Spurlock and Hill made the team. As did Allen Rossum as a KR. One of those guys is going when Crabtree signs and likely even sooner. Dominque Ziegler was a fan favorite but he got injured during the last preseason game. Hopefully he’ll clear waivers.