The San Francisco 49ers have relied on rookies to play at a high level this season. So far, they have not disappointed. There will be inevitable growing pains. That’s par for the course when you’re talking about first-year players.
But this draft class looks to have a few hits and potential long-term starters. Here is our rookie report after five weeks.
De’Zhaun Stribling
We’re probably still another month and a half away from seeing Stribling, at the earliest. It’s a bummer, because you could see the impact he could make
during the preseason.
All is not lost, though. He’ll have the final month of the season to work himself back into the offense. Ideally, Stribling is up to speed and a regular contributor by the playoffs.
Romello Height
Height was drafted to be the designated pass rusher. So far, he’s rushed the passer on 62% of his snaps. We haven’t seen him kick inside often, as 88% of his snaps have come on the edge.
Height has only three solo tackles on the season, with a modest pressure rate of 7.2%. He’s essentially a designated looper. Per Sumer Sports, 52% of Height’s pass rushes have been stunts. Raheem Morris has his rookie on the move on over half his pass-rushing snaps. He’s winning at a high clip, 13.3%. That’s a good sign, and it suggests Height’s production should follow shortly.
Kaelon Black
The 49ers rookie running back has been underwhelming to begin the year. It looked like he’d be a focal point of the offense in Week 1, but his snaps have dwindled since. He’s only playing about 11% of the time this year. Black has an explosive play rate of 2.6% and a -0.10 EPA per touch, with one impact play in his name.
Black was seen as one of the better pass-blocking prospects in the draft, but he’s only been used 1.3% of the time in that role.
Kyle Shanahan isn’t tipping his hand when Black is in the game. The split is pretty even: he runs the ball 47% of the time and runs a pass route 41% of the time.
Black’s averaging 2.6 yards per carry in the red zone. That jumps to 3.9 yards per carry on non-red-zone carries. The good news is he’s bouncing off tackles, falling forward, and gaining yards after the contact. But he’s also getting stuffed behind the line of scrimmage and failing to force missed tackles.
Black struggles to resist the urge to bounce runs that don’t need to or to stop his feet in the backfield. In 1-on-1 situations, he’s indecisive instead of being the aggressor.
Gracen Halton
Halton recorded his first sack of the season, but he’s 26th among all defensive tackles in the NFL in impact plays, with 13. He has one less impact play than Osa Odighizuwa, despite playing 91 fewer snaps. Halton has as many tackles for loss as DeForest Buckner and Zach Allen.
Halton’s awareness is off the charts. He’s a much better run defender than anticipated. He’s the type of player who causes chaos, and his plays don’t always show up in the box score.
Nothing about Halton’s first five games would tell you he should’ve fallen to Day 3 of the draft.
Carver Willis
Ephesians Prysock
Incomplete.
Jaden Dugger
Dugger only has one missed tackle this year. He also got into the sack column for the first time last week. Dugger has been sneaky good as a pass rusher. He’s only rushed ten times, but he has three pressures and the sack we saw on the first drive of Week 5.
It’s been impressive to watch Dugger hold his own against 300-pounders. Four of his seven targets have resulted in first downs, but he’s only surrendering 6.4 yards per reception on those. Week 5 showed that some of those were by design, essentially conceding underneath throws to take away the bigger threat.
Dugger plays physically, stays in control, and rarely makes mistakes. His long-term upside is high, especially with Fred Warner at the position.
Enrique Cruz Jr.
Incomplete.
