Cowboys vs. 49ers: Stock up and stock down after preseason Week 1

Stock up: Rookie wide receivers

I will cheat here and give you two for the price of one, since I feel like I’d be a bit “copy and paste” with my praise if I separated the reviews of these two players.

While neither Deebo Samuel or Jalen Hurd dominated the game, both had extremely promising performances in their first preseason game in the red and gold.

First, we’ll look at Samuel, who had his first touch of the football on a well-executed wide receiver reverse that went for 14 yards. The play highlighted his speed, as he found the gap and hit it hard.

Samuel was targeted six times, catching two passes for 61 yards. What these stats don’t tell you is he could have caught a touchdown after getting a step on his defender, but quarterback C.J. Beathard‘s pass was slightly underthrown (which he promptly caught anyway in a beautiful example of a contested catch).

Samuel also drew a long pass interference call on a similar route down the left sideline. It was overall an impressive debut for Samuel, who showed good speed and IQ in this contest.

As for Hurd, he also touched the ball three times and two of those were for touchdowns. Not only that, but Hurd demonstrated different ways in which he can score.

In the first touchdown, Hurd caught the ball and used his old abilities as a running back to put his head down and bulldoze through the Dallas defenders. He kept the legs moving before falling into the end zone for six points.

For the second, Beathard threw a beautiful fade pass that Hurd (equally as beautifully) protected and brought in for the score.

Hurd was targeted three times for 31 yards and scored two touchdowns. For you fantasy wizards, don’t add Hurd just yet until he gets some reps with Jimmy Garoppolo — unless you’re playing a dynasty league.