San Francisco 49ers: Top 5 players who have underachieved the most in 2017
By Peter Panacy
With the San Francisco 49ers on the bye this week, Niner Noise takes a look at the top five underachieving players through 10 weeks of action this season.
Yesterday, Niner Noise took a look at the top-five San Francisco 49ers performers through 10 weeks’ action in 2017.
In this article, we’ll flip the script and look at the not-so-hot performers over the same time frame.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s Niners are 1-9 for a number of reasons, including injuries, inexperience and inconsistency. But a major reason has been the overall lack of talent the team has after general manager John Lynch was forced to clear out the old scrap and start from the ground up.
San Francisco 49ers
So it’s not overly surprising to see San Francisco have just one victory this deep in the season. Yet that doesn’t mean the 49ers aren’t in need of some upgrades.
Before we get into the top-five underachievers, let’s list off some not-so-honorable mentions on the list.
Dishonorable Mentions
Cornerback Rashard Robinson
Since he’s no longer with the team, we can’t include cornerback Rashard Robinson on the list of biggest 49ers underachievers. But it’s safe to say he was a big part of the team’s problems before being moved at the NFL trade deadline.
Robinson was a penalty machine and never lived up to the hype he generated his rookie season a year ago.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk
Veteran fullback Kyle Juszczyk lands here primarily because of the four-year, $21 million deal he received last offseason.
That’s a lot of money for a fullback.
And while we all know he’s more than just a lead blocker, fumbles in back-to-back games don’t help his stock level. It would be nice if San Francisco got a bit more out of its hefty investment.
Safety Jimmie Ward
Fourth-year defensive back Jimmie Ward was supposed to be a perfect fit for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s Cover 3 scheme, operating as a single-high safety. The problem with Ward, as has been the case, is his inability to stay healthy. A broken forearm landed him on injured reserve, which marks the third time in four years he’s received such a designation.
It might be time for the 49ers to move on.