Grades for every 49ers 2022 NFL Draft rookie through first 8 games

49ers NFL Draft picks in Round 3: RB Tyrion Davis-Price, WR Danny Gray

Stop us if you’ve seen this before: A team makes a questionable draft pick, fans then criticize it but then slowly talk themselves into that questionable pick being a great move… the “we should’ve known all along” kind of reaction, yet the initial scoff ended up being the right reaction all along.

Well, perhaps that’s what is happening now with the first of two Round 3 picks San Francisco made in LSU running back Tyrion Davis-Price.

Turns out, Davis-Price’s addition helped force another third-round running back, Trey Sermon, off of the 49ers roster by Week 1 as we initially predicted.

But that might be Davis-Price’s biggest NFL accomplishment to date.

Speaking of year-to-date stats, Davis-Price has been limited because of injuries and has a mere 37 yards on 16 rushes over three games played. And those numbers aren’t likely to see an uptick of sizable proportions with the Niners’ blockbuster addition of All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey.

Putting things bluntly, Davis-Price is back to not looking like a good pick. At all.

Fans were originally worried about the Davis-Price pick, however, most probably looked at San Francisco’s subsequent Round 3 selection of wide receiver Danny Gray with plenty of intrigue and hope.

Gray was fast, and he was intended to be the field-stretching element that would ultimately make fellow wideouts Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk all the more potent.

Well, let’s just say things haven’t panned out that way.

Sure, Gray’s best asset would have been mirrored with strong-armed quarterback Trey Lance, not quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, as we saw on that notable preseason touchdown bomb from Lance to the speedy wideout. But, no matter how one looks at it, Gray having zero catches on six targets over six games is pretty disappointing for a third-round pick.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan did say Gray needs to do a few more things to increase his field time and chances, but the fact is those “things” haven’t happened yet.

Pretty frustrating.