SF 49ers: Rookie report-card grades after first quarter of 2020
By Peter Panacy
Round 6: SF 49ers Tight End Charlie Woerner
D+. . Tight End. San Francisco 49ers. CHARLIE WOERNER
Just like Colton McKivitz, it’s awfully difficult to assign a grade to rookie tight end Charlie Woerner, mostly due to the fact the latter hasn’t exactly seen much of the field.
True, Woerner has been out there for a few more snaps than his fifth-round teammate, 23 offensive snaps in total, but those have still been few and far between.
It shouldn’t be overly surprising, though. Warner wasn’t a pass-catching threat at Georgia and was brought aboard by the SF 49ers to replace the run-blocking efforts vacated by now-New York Giants tight end Levine Toilolo who left via free agency last offseason. Toilolo didn’t see much of the field in 2019, either, so Woerner’s role has to be skewed a bit.
But there are some factors working into Woerner’s D-plus grade these first four weeks. His inability to impact the stat sheet, at least as far as his receiving skills go, essentially means anytime he’s on the field, opposing defenses know a running play is coming. Woerner’s route-running efforts in training camp were atrocious, so those opponents don’t have to view him as anything more than an extra run-blocking lineman.
On top of that, some of the injury attrition the Niners have suffered at tight end (George Kittle and Jordan Reed each suffering knee injuries) should have opened up more chances for Woerner to make an impact.
They didn’t, though. And so far, Woerner is looking little more than one of those back-end roster types and little else.