Cowboys vs 49ers: 5 top performances from preseason Week 1

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboys 17-9 in the first week of the preseason. Niner Noise takes a look at the players who fared the best during the warm-up contest.

As was recently noted by former pro scouting director Mike McCartney, the purpose of NFL preseason games is to evaluate players, not team wins or the overall quality of the team. This is good for the San Francisco 49ers, since in spite of defeating the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, the Niners struggled with consistency on offense and were plagued by penalties throughout the game.

That being said, there were a number of players who played well for San Francisco during Week 1 of the 2019 NFL preseason, many of whom are young players looking to either crack the 49ers’ final 53-man roster or make a case for playing time once the regular season begins.

It should be noted that this list is not exhaustive, as several players not included here, such as rookie wide receiver Deebo Samuel, defensive end Damontre Moore, defensive back Emmanuel Mosley and wide receiver Richie James all performed well at points during the game.

This list instead focuses on players whose performances likely raised their chances of either making the 53-man roster or increasing playing time during the 2019 regular season. If nothing else, each of these players proved himself worthy of continued looks throughout training camp and the remainder of the preseason.

Here are the five players who were most impressive during their snaps in Week 1 of the 49ers’ preseason matchup with the Dallas Cowboys: