49ers Rule Out Christian Kirk, Fire Up the Practice Squad Roulette Wheel

The San Francisco 49ers are officially shutting down Christian Kirk for tonight's game against the Washington Commanders, which means it is time to fire up the practice squad roulette wheel.

According to Mike Garafolo, San Francisco ruled out the veteran receiver and elevated wideout Malik Turner and linebacker Jalen Graham to fill out the active roster. If you were holding out hope for a random Kirk breakout game on your fantasy bench, you can safely hit the snooze button.

"Mike Garafolo reported the 49ers ruled out WR Christian Kirk for tonight and elevated WR Malik Turner and LB Jalen Graham from the practice squad."

Kirk has been battling a calf strain that landed him on injured reserve earlier this season. He is currently part of a San Francisco skill-position retirement home that somehow features Mike Evans, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Christian McCaffrey all sitting at age 30 or older.

Kirk fits right in with that demographic, but his absence tonight leaves a noticeable gap in the offensive rotation. To patch the hole, the 49ers are calling up Turner, a guy who has collected more practice squad stamps than a traveling salesman.

Turner has bounced from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Houston Texans and back to the Bay Area over the last few years. He is the definition of a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency receiver.

Graham, a former seventh-round pick out of Purdue, also gets the nod tonight. He will likely be tasked with providing some desperately needed special teams juice while the starters catch their breath.

For anyone staring at the prop market tonight, Kirk being sidelined condenses the target share for the rest of those aging San Francisco stars. The offense will have to lean heavily on the usual suspects to move the chains.

San Francisco has to survive this matchup with the Commanders using duct tape and practice squad elevations at the bottom of the depth chart. We will see if the 49ers can keep their veterans upright long enough to make these depth moves an afterthought by next week.