Jarryd Hayne no certainty to make San Francisco 53-man roster

JARRYD Hayne is no certainty to make the San Francisco 49ers’ final 53-man roster, because of one man in particular.

JARRYD Hayne is no certainty to make the San Francisco 49ers’ final 53-man roster, according to one NFL insider.

CSNBayArea.com’s Matt Maiocco is considered one of the more in-the-know 49ers beat men. In a telephone cross with Australia’s FOX Sports News on Tuesday, he said Australian fans should be wary of the fact Hayne could be pipped for a roster spot by wide receiver and return specialist Bruce Ellington.

Hayne has survived the first round of cuts, from a 90-man to 75-man roster, but D-Day looms on Sunday (AEDT).

“I don’t think it’s that big because Jarryd Hayne and everybody following the 49ers figured he would get through this (75-man) cut,” Maiocco said.

“The big one is coming up when the 49ers have to cut their roster from 75 players to 53 and 53 is the number teams will carry in the regular season.”

Hayne has one more chance to impress before that, in a Friday midday game against the San Diego Chargers.

Maiocco said Hayne only needed to keep doing what he was doing, but the final decision was beyond his control.

Has Hayne done enough to guarantee himself a roster spot?

“You’ll see Jarryd Hayne a lot more out there against the San Diego Chargers,” Maiocco said.

“The opportunity for him isn’t so much at the running back position, although he will get his carries as a running back.

“Where he’s going to make the team is in the return game so when he gets those opportunities he has to do what he has done up to this point, which is catch the ball cleanly, don’t make any turnovers and get up the field and make some yards as a punt returner.

“He just has to continue to do what he is doing.”

Maiocco sees Ellington as Hayne’s key threat to a roster spot. The 24-year-old played in 13 games for the 49ers last season as their primary punt returner, making 188 yards at an average of 8.2 per run.

Ellington has been hampered by a hamstring strain, but got his first snaps of the preseason against the Denver Broncos last weekend. He will be one to watch against the Chargers.

“Watching this team playing during this pre-season, in my mind [Hayne] is the best punt returner. So if he can continue to do that, take care of the football, he should be OK,” Maiocco continued.

“One guy in particular to watch is Bruce Ellington. He is the guy who was the punt returner last year. He hasn’t been healthy so in essence, even though play two different positions on offence — Ellington is a wide receiver and Hayne a running back — to me that is the main thing to watch. If Ellington jumps ahead of Jarryd, all of a sudden Jarryd’s spot is in jeopardy.”

Matt Maiocco says Bruce Ellington is a threat to Jarryd Hayne’s roster spot.

Maiocco said if the 49ers did decide to part ways with Hayne, it would not be the end of his NFL dream.

“As long as he does what he has been doing ... he’s going to be on an NFL roster. I think it’s going to be the 49ers but if they cut him for whatever reason, I think somebody else will claim him.”

San Francisco coach Jim Tomsula said of Ellington after his return from injury against the Broncos: “I thought he looked very quick. I thought he looked explosive. I thought there were a lot of good things out of Bruce.”

Ellington said he was not back to full fitness but relieved to be playing again. He said he was looking forward to the challenge of the week ahead.

“I felt pretty good out there,” Ellington said. “It’s not 100 per cent yet, but it feels pretty good. I feel like I can go so I’m going to fight through it. Hopefully I can stay off the injury list and make some plays.

“I was excited just to get back out there and play football.

“Man, it’s so tough, just standing over there on the sideline, working out by myself. You see guys making plays because that’s what they’re supposed to do, but just sitting there on the sideline and knowing I can go out there and make plays too.

“It’s a great competition and I love competition. I’m going to go out here this week and prove to the coaches that they can trust me and I can be out there making plays.”

Originally published as Jarryd Hayne no certainty to make San Francisco 53-man roster