Perhaps the 49ers haven’t seen as much production from their 2022 NFL Draft class as they initially thought, but there have been some standouts.
There were plenty of reasons for fans to be overly hyped about the San Francisco 49ers’ 2022 NFL Draft class.
For starters, the Niners were viewed as having gotten a steal in USC EDGE Drake Jackson toward the end of Round 2, as some thought Jackson had plenty of first-round talent. And while one of San Francisco’s two third-round picks was largely seen as a bit strange, the other was viewed as a perfect fit.
And those day-three sleepers are always going to be special, right?
It’s nothing new for any NFL Draft class, honestly, and no team is immune to the overhype and excitement. But, with half a regular season in the books and the 49ers gearing up for Weeks 10 through 18, let’s look at each one of the Niners’ 2022 NFL draftees (who are still on the roster, of course) and dish out grades.
Even though those grades have to be weighed a bit with respect to draft position. That’s only fair, right?
49ers NFL Draft picks in Round 2: EDGE Drake Jackson
No San Francisco fan should have been surprised at general manager John Lynch using the team’s first pick on yet another defensive lineman. Seriously.
Yet the 49ers’ intent of making a strength even stronger certainly works out for Jackson, who didn’t necessarily benefit from the same during his collegiate days with the Trojans.
Sure, Jackson is merely a complementary and situational pass-rusher at this stage of his career, and he’s seen only 34.7 of the Niners’ defensive snaps thus far, which pretty much indicates he enters almost solely on third-down plays.
However, with three sacks and five quarterback hits during that abbreviated span, it’s safe to assume Jackson is making something of his chances. Tack on the fact Jackson wrapped up Week 8 in a tie with Detroit Lions pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson for most sacks to date by a rookie, perhaps we should consider grading Jackson a bit higher.
Let’s hold off on that, though, as Jackson is still limited and hasn’t quite shown up to be a plug-and-play player just yet.
Still, a B-plus grade is pretty good here.
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.
49ers NFL Draft picks in Round 4: OL Spencer Burford
For whatever many reasons, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch seem to find hidden gems on day three of the NFL Draft.
This year, it’s looking as if the 49ers’ best day-three pickup is former UTSA offensive lineman Spencer Burford, who essentially won the starting right guard spot during training camp and hasn’t given it back.
Well, technically. Burford is in a rotation with veteran lineman Daniel Brunskill at that spot, and it’s common to see Burford take two series before giving way to Brunskill.
Odd? Perhaps. A decent way to develop a smaller-school rookie against NFL-level competition? Maybe.
Either way, Burford has been solid enough to suggest the Niners have their starting right guard for the foreseeable future, and Pro Football Focus actually hasn’t flagged him for any sacks allowed on the year over 224 pass-blocking snaps.
Not bad for a fourth-round pickup. Not bad at all.
49ers NFL Draft picks in Round 5: CB Samuel Womack
Perhaps even more than Spencer Burford, small-school cornerback Samuel Womack turned plenty of heads in the preseason, particularly with his two-interception game against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 of the exhibition phase.
His efforts were so noteworthy that San Francisco didn’t hesitate to crown him the starting nickel cornerback right away into the regular season.
A position Womack since has lost, though, first to second-year defensive back Deommodore Lenoir and then, more by positional default, the 49ers’ veteran defensive back, Jimmie Ward.
Now, with eight games out of the way, Womack has appeared for just 21.6 percent of defensive snaps, and while he does have 11 tackles and even a forced fumble, opposing quarterbacks have a 135.4 passer rating when targeting him in coverage.
However, this is where curves have to come into play.
Defensive backs often struggle to transition from the college ranks to the pros, Ward being a primary example. It took him a few years to find his footing. Day-three defensive backs face even tougher odds with this shift, so the book is far from closed on Womack, and he’s likely delivered the kind of lowish expectations one might have for a Round 5 cornerback.
49ers NFL Draft picks in Round 6: OL Nick Zakelj, DL Kalia Davis, CB Tariq Castro-Fields
The Niners had three picks in Round 6, and yet we’re only able to effectively grade one of them.
Even that’s going to be tough, as Fordham offensive lineman Nick Zakelj has been almost exclusively a gameday inactive over the first half of his rookie season.
This sounds as if San Francisco is worried about exposing Zakelj to waivers if it wanted to cut him and place him on the practice squad, and there are plenty of thoughts about Zakelj being the 49ers’ long-term option at center, too, albeit after a year’s development deep down the depth chart.
As for time on the field? Well, it’s been minimal. Zakelj has seen one offensive snap and only eight snaps on special teams.
However, we are talking about a sixth-round offensive lineman out of a tiny school. The expectations were never that high, so a C-grade for some development potential seems worthy enough.
Likewise, the Niners are redshirting former UCF defensive lineman Kalia Davis, who suffered a torn ACL before being drafted, while cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields didn’t make San Francisco’s 53-man roster after the preseason.
49ers NFL Draft picks in Round 7: QB Brock Purdy
Ah, yes. Mr. Irrelevant.
Quarterback Brock Purdy probably deserves a bit more credit than he’ll actually receive here, even though a C-plus grade might seem kind of generous.
It’s not for his on-field capabilities during the regular season, no. Purdy’s line of four completions on nine attempts with an interception came almost exclusively during garbage time, and no one is going to read too much into those numbers anyway.
Want your voice heard? Join the Niner Noise team!
Instead, Purdy gets a little bit of credit here for making himself relevant by hanging around on the 49ers’ 53-man roster.
Not only did Purdy beat out the Niners’ offseason preferred veteran, Nate Sudfeld, but he also managed to hang around as Jimmy Garoppolo’s backup halfway through 2022. San Francisco didn’t exactly go out and scramble for an experienced backup in light of Jimmy G’s injury history.
Putting things rather bluntly, the 49ers actually trust Purdy to a large extent.
If nothing else, that warrants a slightly better-than-average grade.