Niner Noise
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San Francisco 49ers: 3 rookies from 2019 NFL Draft to watch in 2020

By Peter Panacy

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 19: Dre Greenlaw #57 of the San Francisco 49ers runs onto the field prior to the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 19: Dre Greenlaw #57 of the San Francisco 49ers runs onto the field prior to the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Jalen Hurd, 49ers
Jalen Hurd #17 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Wide Receiver Jalen Hurd

The No. 2 player on this list, wide receiver Jalen Hurd, is a player worth watching for some conflicting reasons, hopefully more good ones than bad.

San Francisco’s third-round pick from the 2019 NFL Draft suffered a serious back injury during the preseason, forcing him onto injured reserve, essentially redshirting his rookie campaign. Apparently, the Niners’ medical experts didn’t want Hurd traveling with the team to Miami for Super Bowl LIV, perhaps indicating the recovery process was taking much longer than initially anticipated.

That’s not good news, especially paired with the fact Hurd is relatively new to the position after spending the majority of his collegiate career as a running back.

Assuming he’s healthy enough for training camp in 2020, Hurd will still require a lot of fine-tuning and refinement. While there’s little doubting the 6-foot-4, 227-pound target offers plenty of mismatches based off his size and physique alone, one also has to acknowledge he has yet to take a regular-season snap.

At this point, the 49ers have to hope they get at least something productive out of their former third-round investment from a year ago.

Anything in addition will merely be a bonus.