Barring any unlikely trades or an ever increasingly unlikely signing of a certain first round pick the San Francisco 49ers have their 53-man roster set in stone and are gearing up for the regular season.

The very same regular season that officially begins today. The 49ers are set to play the Cardinals in Arizona on Sunday and now that we know what the roster looks like, it should be a bit easier making some predictions for the game. I’m working on rolling out a game preview tomorrow but for now I’m going to take a look at the whole 53 by position, starting this morning with the offense.

Quarterbacks: 1st Shaun Hill, 2nd Alex Smith, 3rd Nate Davis

The 49ers have stability at the position, or at least for the first time in three seasons the team is starting the season with the same quarterback they finished the previous season as the starter. Shaun Hill has been impressive for the team in regular season games, but seemed to struggle a little bit this preseason. Still, he should do very well in the offense Jimmy Raye is hoping to run, his primary role will be that of a game manager who’s main priority is ball control and shoving the ball into the guts of number 21 and number 29 respectively.

Skipping over Alex Smith for the reason that this writer (along with a lot of others) is convinced that the guy has no future as a 49er. Who does the team have for the future, though? Nate Davis could just be that answer. He didn’t have amazing stats in preseason but he just had this.. veteran savvy about him. He showed poise and determination and most of all, he didn’t make mistakes. CB Tarrel Brown would say he had “swag.”

Running Backs: 1st Frank Gore, 1st Moran Norris (FB), 2nd Glen Coffee, 3rd Michael Robinson

The Niners neglected to keep the young burner, HB Kory Sheets on the final 53, much to the dismay of many fans but the fact remains that he would have done little for this offense this season in the scheme of things. The team did manage to get him signed to the practice squad though, which is a plus.

When asked about the quarterback situation, Jimmy Raye (very snappily) claimed that it didn’t matter so long as number 21 was on the field. If you don’t know who number 21 is, well, I have to wonder what you’re doing reading about this team. Still, Frank Gore should have a great year in the Raye offense and with FB Moran Norris leading the way, the sky seems to be the limit.  Gore entered training camp in peak physical condition and is gearing up for a career-high season.

Whatever carries that don’t go Gore’s way will be in the hands of third round draft pick Glen Coffee who looked nothing short of great in the preseason. Coffee has done everything the team has asked of him, and then some. He’ll look to show the world he’s got the stuff and in my opinion, he’s the team’s best draft pick.

Wide Receivers: 1st Isaac Bruce, 1st Josh Morgan, 2nd Brandon Jones, 2nd Arnaz Battle, 3rd Micheal Spurlock, 3rd Jason Hill

The 49ers seem to have the best receiving unit since T.O. was on the team. Isaac Bruce is quietly solid and second year receiver Josh Morgan is gearing up for a breakout season. The team signed Brandon Jones in free agency in the offseason and is looking to be a good deep threat.

Arnaz Battle is constantly making his case to stay on the team, most people wrote him off as the offseason began including myself, and he surprised everyone by having a stellar preseason. Battle is simply consistent. A solid third option, he should produce well this season. Jason Hill has a lot to prove after being unsatisfied with his reps in practice and preseason, after scoring a touchdown in the preseason finale he’s looking to show everyone he is indeed the real deal, and I couldn’t be rooting for him more.

Micheal Spurlock should be good for the occasional big play here and there, but is he’s to contribute a ton this season it’s likely going to be on special teams. If the team ever gets Michael Crabtree signed then Spurlock may be among the first to be considered for cutting to make room for the 10th overall draft choice.

Tight Ends: 1st Vernon Davis, 2nd Delanie Walker

Unlike previous seasons, the 49ers are going with only two tight ends this season. This is of course, barring some unforeseen signing, but the team decided they were fine without a blocking tight end, passing up rookie Bear Pascoe and second year player Joe Jon Finley; the latter of whom made the practice squad.

Vernon Davis, for the second or third year in a row is looking to have a breakout season. He was slated to be a big factor last season in the offense of Mike Martz and is once again slated to do so in the offense of Jimmy Raye, but one has to wonder if he’ll spend even more time blocking this season after head coach Mike Singletary called him the best blocking tight end in the NFL.

This blocking stuff is all well and good, but the verdict on Vernon’s bust status is still out, seeing as you don’t draft a blocking tight end with the sixth overall pick in the draft. You pick one up in the sixth or seventh or pluck one off waiver wire. Heck, that plan didn’t even work for the Niners as rookie Bear Pascoe failed to even make the practice squad.

Delanie Walker, however, looks sharp as ever. At this point, he’s a better pass catcher than Davis but seems to be useless when blocking is needed. He should have another season of quiet production with the big play here and there. As for a blocking tight end, the 49ers will likely bring up another offensive lineman when the play-calling requires it.

Offensive Line: 1st LT Joe Staley, 1st LG David Baas, 1st C Eric Heitman, 1st RG Chilo Rachal, 1st RT Adam Snyder, 2nd LT Barry Sims, 2nd C Cody Wallace, 2nd RG Tony Wragge, 2nd RT Tony Pashos

The offensive line should look better as a whole this season. Questions loom on the backup front but the team did the best they could in addressing these questions by signing veteran RT Marvel Smith in the offseason. Smith ended up retiring after failing to win the starting job over Adam Snyder, who looks solid so far this preseason.

The team then signed Tony Pashos, a physical, dominating run blocker who is more than a little lacking in pass protection. Pashos is brought in as a backup, but has been quoted as viewing the 49ers as his best option for playing time, he obviously feels he can take the job from Snyder at some point in the season. I’ll have to say I don’t want that to happen. Not that I like Snyder any more than Pashos, I just know that if the Niners have to switch up the line yet again it means that we’re allowing more sacks than we should, or we’re not getting enough push in the running game. This is something I’d not like to relive.

The rest of the line seems to be solid, the only question marks being the longevity of starting LG David Baas and the actual reliability of backup LT Barry Sims. If Joe Staley goes down, the team can go into panic mode because Sims has been about as effective in pass protection as those little dummies they use in practice.

Eric Heitman is quietly the best player on the line, efficient and humble he does his job with efficiency, and should be good to go this season. Second year RG Chilo Rachal looked very dominant in the preseason and seems to be maturing quite well. Rachal was one of the first changes Singletary made after becoming head coach, putting the rookie in and letting him get some playing time–something Mike Nolan seemed violently allergic to doing.

As a whole the 49ers offense could be a lot better than it was last season. Personnel wise, we seem to be a lot better off, the only real question marks looming at spots on the line and our number one tight end, Vernon Davis. Oh and, that one other important position… Quarterback. Still, Shaun Hill seems more than capable of handling his role in this offense.

One last note, the 49ers had a turnover differential of -17 last season. This means they gave up the ball on fumbles and interception 17 more times than they took it away, and were still a borderline-good team last season. If this new offense can reduce this number even partially the 49ers offense (and due to less time on field, the defense) should be vastly improved over the unit the 49ers fielded last season. Look for my defensive breakdown later today and a game preview tomorrow morning.