While the San Francisco 49ers have the most star-studded roster in the NFL, it is often the depth pieces that make the difference in a season.
The 49ers' Super Bowl 58 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was a painful reminder of that. While third wide receiver Jauan Jennings was the star of the show for the 49ers, throwing a touchdown and scoring a receiving touchdown, the Chiefs got critical contributions from the likes of Mike Pennel, Tershawn Warton and Leo Chenal.
San Francisco stacked depth at several positions this offseason, with the 49ers' wide receiver group, secondary and interior offensive line looking stronger following their efforts in free agency and the draft.
That additional depth could prove key this season, with the 49ers given an almost historically bad rest disadvantage during the 2024 campaign.
San Francisco's schedule gives the Niners a net rest differential versus opponents of minus 21 days, that number severely influenced by facing four teams who will be coming off a bye week.
Per Brian Burke of ESPN Analytics, only the 2012 Philadelphia Eagles and the 2005 San Diego Chargers have faced a worse such rest disadvantage since 2002, when the NFL expanded to 32 teams.
Rest difference vs opponents. Tough scene for SF. pic.twitter.com/K7kVXtHQV0
— Brian Burke (@bburkeESPN) May 16, 2024
Despite facing that deficit, the 49ers are still favored in every single game in 2024, per DraftKings Sportsbook.
However, with the 49ers being dealt the worst hand in the league in terms of rest this season, the depth pieces on their roster could come into play more often to ease the burden on San Francisco's stars.
The 49ers have designs on claiming the number one seed in the NFC for the second successive season. Having the worst rest differential of any NFL team in over a decade complicates that task and may leave the 49ers needing to use more of their roster than perhaps might have been anticipated to achieve it.
