49ers training camp: 3 players who’ll shine early in 2020

No 2: The 49ers again used a Round 1 pick on a defensive lineman, yet Javon Kinlaw will certainly be a beast with his new team.

Thanks to a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 49ers moved to pick No. 14 in the draft and selected defensive tackle, Javon Kinlaw. They needed to replace the departed DeForest Buckner and Kinlaw was a perfect choice.

There’s going to be a lot of pressure on the rookie to play to the standards of defensive end Nick Bosa. Bosa dominated the trenches in his first year and earned the Defensive Rookie of the Year award as a result.

He, just like Brandon Aiyuk, will benefit from teams not seeing much of him except for college film. Three of the 49ers’ first five games will be against teams who players like Kinlaw can feast off of.

Kinlaw does come with injury concerns, but the 49ers believe he can be healthy and be a first-round impact.

With the amount of attention on Bosa and the 49ers linebacking crew, Kinlaw has the advantage of a breakthrough in a big way. He has the opportunity to turn the script on all those who said “the team should’ve taken any receiver instead.”

We might not see back-to-back DROY awards but we could see Kinlaw be the dominant force needed to keep pace in the NFC.