San Francisco 49ers: 3 underhyped rookies entering 2020 training camp
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers Fullback Josh Hokit
San Francisco is going to be faced with some tough financial decisions in 2021, and one of those could be losing Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk to free agency after his contract expires next year.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense is infinitely better with Juszczyk in the lineup, and the team experienced the difference when the veteran missed four regular-season games in 2019. But with a number of other key players’ contracts scheduled to expire, such as tight end George Kittle and cornerback Richard Sherman, one can see why Juszczyk re-signing is far from guaranteed.
This partially explains why the 49ers targeted former Fresno State fullback Josh Hokit as an undrafted free-agent addition.
Hokit, 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, is slightly smaller than Juszczyk. But as his college stats show, Hokit is far more a rushing threat than a player he could presumably replace, should the Niners go that direction in 2021:
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2016 | Fresno State | MWC | LB | 6 | 27 | 130 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 130 | 4.8 | 0 | ||
| *2017 | Fresno State | MWC | SO | RB | 14 | 128 | 583 | 4.6 | 7 | 13 | 107 | 8.2 | 0 | 141 | 690 | 4.9 | 7 |
| *2018 | Fresno State | MWC | JR | RB | 12 | 73 | 260 | 3.6 | 1 | 8 | 56 | 7.0 | 0 | 81 | 316 | 3.9 | 1 |
| 2019 | Fresno State | MWC | SR | LB | 12 | 75 | 287 | 3.8 | 9 | 17 | 97 | 5.7 | 1 | 92 | 384 | 4.2 | 10 |
| Career | Fresno State | 303 | 1260 | 4.2 | 17 | 38 | 260 | 6.8 | 1 | 341 | 1520 | 4.5 | 18 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 6/26/2020.
Hokit will have to demonstrate a similar ability to block, while also serving as a quality receiving and rushing threat to potentially provide San Francisco with the option to move on from Juszczyk.
That alone, however, makes Hokit a player worth watching in training camp even if the team has to stash him on the practice squad for a year while Juszczyk plays out the final season of his contract.