Kyle Shanahan arguably had his best 49ers team in 2022, yet these five players certainly fell short of delivering at a desirable level.
Maybe the 2019 squad is a contender, but it’s hard to envision San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan having a better team during his current tenure than the one he enjoyed coaching over the course of 2022.
A team that boasted the NFL’s best defense and also turned into a dynamic offense in the wake of the blockbuster trade for All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey and the sudden emergence of rookie quarterback Brock Purdy.
That all said, Shanahan’s team last season had its share of disappointments and underachievers.
As far as underachieving players are concerned, let’s take a look at five who probably need to perform considerably better to even meet that desired level of expectation in 2022.
49ers WR Danny Gray didn’t live up to expectations
Remember back in the NFL Draft when the Niners used a third-round pick on former SMU wide receiver Danny Gray, the speedster who was finally going to take the top off Shanahan’s offense as a deep threat?
Sure, Gray’s fellow Round 3 teammate, running back Tyrion Davis-Price, was a disappointment in 2022, too, but Gray is probably even more of a disappointment as he came with plenty of promise when drafted instead of shock or confusion.
Despite a promising preseason campaign, Gray managed a mere one reception for 10 yards and found himself frequently on the weekly inactive list rather than buried on the gameday depth chart.
As the reports went, Gray wasn’t involved enough in blocking or fine-tuned route-running skills, and Shanahan cut his playing time as a result.
Either way, Gray entered 2022 with plenty of hopes and left it awfully barren.
49ers TE Ross Dwelley didn’t live up to expectations
One of the other parts of the 2019 season was how No. 2 tight end Ross Dwelley made a small-but-substantial impact when called upon to relieve the All-Pro, George Kittle.
Dwelley had some serious and important catches during the moments when Kittle was out with injuries that year, and Dwelley also answered the call in 2020, too, when Kittle missed half the season.
2021 and 2022, however, turned into years when Dwelley was a forgotten commodity and non-factor.
Dwelley had himself three catches for 105 yards and a touchdown but fell way short in the snap-count department to fellow tight ends like Charlie Woerner and Tyler Kroft.
A free agent to be, it certainly seems as if San Francisco already phased out Dwelley as Kittle’s primary backup, and it’s hard to see Dwelley’s 2022 campaign as anything but a disappointment.
49ers DT Kerry Hyder didn’t live up to expectations
Perhaps fans are a bit to blame for placing too lofty of expectations on veteran defensive tackle Kerry Hyder.
After all, fans can recall when he actually led the 49ers with 8.5 sacks back in 2020 when nearly everyone else along the defensive line was dealing with a season-ending injury or something similar.
Following his one-year absence in 2021 with the Seattle Seahawks, Hyder’s return to Northern California prompted many to think he’d have a resurgent campaign back with his old team and under his previous position coach, Kris Kocurek.
Well, not quite.
Granted, Hyder was an important part of the Niners’ D-line rotation over the course of 2022.
But, instead of reaching anything close to that career-best 8.5 sacks from 2020, Hyder managed only one last season.
49ers CB Ambry Thomas didn’t live up to expectations
It’s been quite a roller-coaster ride for two-year cornerback Ambry Thomas.
Thomas, as fans may recall, was downright awful early during his NFL beginnings after San Francisco grabbed him in Round 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft.
However, fans also recall how Thomas gradually improved as that season wore on, even putting himself into a position where he might be a starter in 2022.
The 49ers’ offseason pickup of cornerback Charvarius Ward changed that, of course, but at least Thomas entered his sophomore year as a candidate to be high up on the depth chart.
Instead, Thomas struggled in training camp and found himself vastly outperformed by his fellow 2021 draftee, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, who became Ward’s partner on the boundary once the prior starting corner, Emmanuel Moseley, suffered a season-ending ACL tear.
From the cornerback who snagged a game-winning overtime interception in Week 18 a little over a year ago to one who managed just 41 defensive snaps in 2022, Thomas fell way short of expectations.
49ers EDGE Drake Jackson didn’t live up to expectations
It’s pretty fair to keep most rookies off lists like these, especially on teams like the Niners who were loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and had little room for upstart players trying to cut their proverbial teeth.
But Danny Gray made this list. So will San Francisco’s top pick from the 2022 NFL Draft, EDGE Drake Jackson.
In fairness, Jackson had a solid impact early on. The sack numbers weren’t necessarily there, but his ability to get a hand up and knock down a pass was. In total, Jackson swatted down eight passes over the year and even managed three sacks.
Want your voice heard? Join the Niner Noise team!
Yet both of those numbers were heavily skewed toward the beginning of the season. And for a 49ers team that lacked pass-rushing prowess behind All-Pro EDGE Nick Bosa, who led the league with 19.5 sacks, one would only hope the Niners had gotten more from their second-round pick, Jackson.
Jackson became a weekly inactive down the stretch, and Kyle Shanahan more or less told reporters it was because of the rookie’s conditioning (or lack thereof).
Round 2 picks aren’t necessarily first-round pedigree types, but they’re still expected to contribute heavily.
Jackson didn’t quite deliver in that regard.