After all, the small-school undrafted free agent merely made some modest waves during the 2024 preseason late in games and was the longest of long shots to make the regular-season 53-man roster his rookie season.
Having spent the entirety of last year on the practice squad, Pline is again hitting training camp as a long shot to fill out the depth chart behind All-Pro George Kittle.
But, the context for Pline's prospects of hanging around into Week 1 are notably better than they were a year ago.
The Niners bypassed the opportunity to add a talented rookie tight end via the 2025 NFL Draft despite the class being chock full of promising prospects.