It's certainly unfair to issue a final judgment on rookie players after their respective first years in the league.
Especially for the San Francisco 49ers, who ended up relying heavily on their 2025 NFL Draft class in light of the multitude of injuries suffered up and down the roster. While it might have been the case anyway without those injuries, particularly after some serious turnover earlier that offseason, the depth chart's severe testing certainly put many of the Niners rookies into roles they weren't expected to fill right away.
So, it probably won't come as much of a shock to see CBS Sports' Josh Edwards be a little harsh on San Francisco's draft class from last year, giving general manager John Lynch's haul a C-grade with only nine other teams ranking worse.
That said, there's one player who certainly caught Edwards' attention.
CBS Sports touts Upton Stout as 49ers' best rookie from 2025
It probably won't come as a major shock to anyone who watched him, but nickel cornerback Upton Stout received plenty of praise from Edwards' assessment:
"San Francisco had six rookies play at least 300 snaps on their respective side of the ball. Aside from Stout, none of them were particularly effective. Stout emerged as a personal favorite to watch because, at 5-foot-9, he plays much bigger than his size. The 49ers have done as well as any other team identifying defensive backs on Day 3; safety Malik Mustapha and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir serving as other recent examples."
Considered the 49ers' lone "hit" from their 2025 class, Stout generated plenty of buzz during training camp and followed that up with an impressive first-year campaign, notching 82 tackles, four of which were for a loss, a forced fumble, a sack and five passes broken up.
Sure, the rookie had his share of mistakes. But there's little doubting the fact the Niners have quite the gem in the undersized defensive back.
Unfortunately for San Francisco, the early investments on its defensive line didn't impress Edwards much, including Round 1 draftee Mykel Williams, whose torn ACL in Week 9 certainly hindered his development.
At least Stout emerged as a future cornerstone piece, though.