Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Do the 49ers have any Top 100 players on their roster?

Sure, there was a mass exodus of Biblical proportions from Santa Clara this offseason, but are the San Francisco 49ers really opening up training camp with Saturday’s practice sans a Top 100 player on the roster?

The NFL Network said so as no Niners were on their player-voted Top 100 list this summer.

But ESPN’s Grantland thinks differently. In its top 100 list (Part 1 and Part 2), three Niners were listed in strong safety Antoine Bethea (No. 93) and quarterback Colin Kaepernick (No. 76, and one spot ahead of former QB Alex Smith) and left tackle Joe Staley (No. 53).

It all makes sense in that Bethea was the team’s MVP in his first year with the team, Kaepernick may have regressed but he played behind a makeshift line last year and he is still one of the more talented dual-threat quarterbacks in the league and Staley is coming off his fourth straight Pro Bowl.

Following, then, are some of the “thoughts” that went into Grantland’s ranking system when it came to this trio of Niners:

On Bethea, who tied a career high with four interceptions and had his first pick-six: "Bethea, meanwhile, was arguably San Francisco’s best player after signing a four-year, $21 million deal in March. The middle of the market rarely delivers value, but the 49ers have repeatedly found useful safeties in free agency, both with Bethea and the man he replaced, Donte Whitner."

On Kaepernick, who had career-high numbers in passing (3,369) and rushing yards (639) but saw his passer rating fall to a career-low-as-a-starter 86.4: "If the 49ers struggle as much as everyone expects this year and Alex Smith performs to his exalted level of competency in Kansas City, we’re going to see articles about how Jim Harbaugh should have gone back to Smith in 2012 after he returned from injury."

On Staley, who is a bargain and has started all 114 of his career games: "Staley’s average (salary) cap hit from 2012 through 2014 -- when he was arguably one of the NFL’s five best left tackles -- was $2.9 million. $2.9 million! Even with Staley’s cap hit more than doubling to $7.6 million this year, he has just the 12th-highest cap hold for a left tackle."

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