{"id":6733,"date":"2026-08-14T04:14:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6733"},"modified":"2026-08-14T04:14:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:14:53","slug":"49ers-studs-and-duds-stribling-rourke-and-halton-impress-in-preseason-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6733","title":{"rendered":"49ers Studs and Duds: Stribling, Rourke, and Halton impress in preseason opener"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>SANTA CLARA \u2014 Football is back.<\/p>\n<p>Or something resembling NFL football, at least.<\/p>\n<p>But, jokes aside, let\u2019s be clear about this: In preseason game No. 1, the depth of the 49ers showed some serious promise against some serious competition. The Tennessee Titans had their first team on the field for the first three series on both offense and defense. And the Niners more than stood their own. One could argue they beat them. (Don\u2019t worry about the scoreboard in the preseason.)<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6731\">Magnitude 3.8 earthquake shakes Bay Area<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are the studs and duds from preseason game No. 1.<\/p>\n<h2>STUDS<\/h2>\n<p><strong>De\u2019Zhaun Stribling \u2022 WR<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a game where few probable regular-season impact players were present for the 49ers, Stribling looked like a guy who didn\u2019t need the preseason seasoning. He had six catches for 66 yards (a minus-4 pop-pass counts as a reception, but I\u2019m not counting it \u2014 bad play call, worse blocking), including an impressive hands catch for 10 yards on the second drive and a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch for 32 yards along the sideline on the third.<\/p>\n<p>His quarterback, Kurtis Rourke, didn\u2019t have the best placement to start Thursday\u2019s game, but Stribling came down with all but one inaccurate throw.<\/p>\n<p>Also of note: he was working often as a Z receiver \u2014 a spot that he\u2019d need to play to be on the field in the Niners\u2019 go-to 21 personnel package.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jordan Watkins \u2022 WR<\/strong><br \/>\nWas fine as a pass catcher when the game was interesting \u2014 he did have a nice catch that was called back by an offensive line hold and a solid quick out at the end of the second quarter \u2014 but he was notable, in a good way, as a kick and punt returner. He let one kickoff bounce out of bounds; that\u2019s impressive awareness, and had a tricky but calm fair catch on a booming Tommy Townsend punt. That\u2019s how you cement a roster spot.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Corliss Waitman \u2022 P<\/strong><br \/>\nI won\u2019t lie, I was a bit confused as to why he was selected over rookie Jack Bouwmeester to be the punter for this game \u2014 and, ostensibly, the rest of the season. Then he dropped two absolute dimes and a second-half bomb in this game and I was confused no longer. Great call, John Lynch!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kurtis Rourke \u2022 QB<\/strong><br \/>\nRourke was a bit off-balance to start, but once the game was well underway, he started dotting the ball all around the field \u2014 mainly to Stribling. His second-quarter rib injury effectively ended the interesting portion of this game. Suffice it to say if the Niners had a third quarterback, he\u2019d be it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gracen Halton \u2022 DT<\/strong><br \/>\nAn absolute menace, with serious push again and again, particularly in the last series for the Titans\u2019 offensive starters, where he had three great reps in the run and the pass game, beating Peter Skoronski, one of the better guards in football, at least twice. That speaks volumes.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6729\">Photos: Renovated Calabazas BMX park reopens in San Jose<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sincere McCormick \u2022 RB<\/strong><br \/>\nWay more impressive than Patrick Taylor as a runner, despite operating behind the same offensive line. Sure, the Titans had their second-string defense in, but I\u2019d rather see more 35 than 32 moving forward.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Nick Martin \u2022 LB<\/strong><br \/>\nWas certainly credited for too many tackles, and is still washed out far too often to be someone the Niners can count on in the regular season, but had some really nice plays as well, particularly in the second half. (He also had an electable hit.) The good outweighs the bad here. I think. Maybe. Let\u2019s go with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James Thompson \u2022 DT<\/strong><br \/>\nThe undrafted free agent has one thing that\u2019s NFL-ready: his hands. Goodness, does he deliver a punch. It\u2019s such a punch, in fact, that he might not need anything else. He was a force in the second half.<\/p>\n<h2>DUDS<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Alfred Collins \u2022 DT<\/strong><br \/>\nWas better as the game progressed, but was pushed around easily on the first two series of the game. Inauspicious for a player who is supposed to be an immovable mountain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marquese Sigle \u2022 S<\/strong><br \/>\nHas seen almost exclusively first-team reps in practice, but not only suited up for this game, he received prodigious first-half playing time. Had a nice run-game tackle on the Titans\u2019 fourth drive, but didn\u2019t cover himself in glory at the start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brandon Parker and Austen Pleasants \u2022 OTs<\/strong><br \/>\nTough watch. Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz should renegotiate their contracts today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Adrian Martinez \u2022 QB<\/strong><br \/>\nAppeared to be in over his head from the moment he entered the game, despite not facing the Titans\u2019 best. Now might be a good time to note that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hold Martinez\u2019s CFL negotiation rights.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6727\">Fire breaks out at San Jose fast-food restaurant<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco 49ers: The Niners had some young standout performers in their first preseason game of the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>49ers Studs and Duds: Stribling, Rourke, and Halton impress in preseason opener - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"49ers Studs and Duds: Stribling, Rourke, and Halton impress in preseason opener - 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