SF 49ers: Rookie report-card grades after first quarter of 2020

With a quarter of the season in the books, Niner Noise looks at the SF 49ers’ class of rookies from the 2020 NFL Draft and issues out report-card grades.

The SF 49ers‘ 2020 NFL Draft class is ultimately going to be defined by the team’s two first-round picks, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

It’s pretty simple why. The Niners, after all, brought in only five drafted rookies during the NFL Draft, and the remaining three were landed on day three between Rounds 5 through 7 — areas where immediate-impact talent isn’t always expected.

San Francisco’s undrafted free-agent class also managed to produce some modestly promising prospects, although that particular group hasn’t yet made much of an impact, if any at all, at the pro level despite the slew of injuries the SF 49ers have suffered a quarter of the way through the season. A number of UDFA players aren’t even with the team anymore, yet that’s to be expected.

Speaking of being a quarter of the way through 2020, it’s worth looking at the kind of production the Niners have generated from their first-year pros, grading out each player in terms of where his expected level of contributions is supposed to be.

Naturally, there has to be some sort of curve here. Undrafted rookies aren’t expected to be bona fide contributors right away, and the same could be argued for late-round picks, too. First- and second-round picks obviously are expected to provide more proverbial “thump” sooner than day-three selections.

Regardless, the SF 49ers’ 2020 NFL Draft class is still going to be best known for Kinlaw and Aiyuk. So let’s kick off our first-quarter report-card grades for those two, as well as the remaining rookies San Francisco brought aboard last April.