49ers training camp: 5 storylines you didn’t expect to happen (but they did)

Unexpected 49ers training camp storyline No. 4: Tariq Castro-Fields outclimbing Ambry Thomas

While Trey Sermon was dealing with the reality of a frustrating rookie year, 2021 rookie cornerback Ambry Thomas was heading into the offseason fresh off a solid finish to what had been his own frustrations earlier that season.

His strong finish set him up for a promising sophomore year. And while he was unlikely to unseat either Emmanuel Moseley or the newly acquired free-agent defensive back Charvarius Ward for a starting cornerback gig, Thomas’ stock entering 2022 was nevertheless pretty high.

Certainly not so much for sixth-round rookie Tariq Castro-Fields out of Penn State, who figured to be a back-end-of-the-roster addition in this year’s draft at the very most.

Throughout camp, though, it’s been Castro-Fields who has looked the better defensive contributor, while Thomas has regularly been observed giving up chunk plays, both in one-on-one drills and in full-team practices.

This has gone so far as to see the second-year pro demoted to third-string units, while Castro-Fields has moved up the depth chart to work with the twos.

Thomas might find himself on the fringes of the roster in the wake of these developments, which is quite the turn of events after how he concluded his 2021 campaign.