The San Francisco 49ers selected 11 players in the 2025 NFL Draft. While a lot of rookies have seen action, several of them have not played at all and have essentially had a redshirt year.
Let's take a look at these players.
WR Jordan Watkins
The 49ers selected Jordan Watkins in the fourth round of the draft. The hope was he could develop throughout this season and become a contributor, but an injury during the preseason put him behind the eight ball and he has not been able to get back on track.
Watkins has been active for just three games and has two catches for 26 yards on three targets. Since Ricky Pearsall returned for the Niners a few weeks back, Watkins has not been active. We know head coach Kyle Shanahan takes time to trust young receivers, so he clearly trusts more proven options right now.
San Francisco may be wise to give Watkins some opportunities later this season, though, because he is one of the few receivers the team has under contract next season.
RB Jordan James
Rookie running back Jordan James truly has had a redshirt season. He went down with an injury in training camp and has not played at all since.
San Francisco's running back depth chart has only had to lean upon the top two names in Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson. Third-stringer Isaac Guerendo has not seen any action at running back and has been relegated to special teams.
The fact the Niners spent a fourth-round pick on Guerendo in 2024 and a fifth-round pick on James in 2025 seems like a great waste given that neither has taken a snap at running back all season.
QB Kurtis Rourke
Rourke makes sense as a redshirt option because he was recovering from a knee injury suffered late in his college career. He has had his practice window opened, so he will be able to get on the field and get some reps, which could determine what San Francisco does with backup quarterback Mac Jones this offseason.
Those are the three main players who have essentially had a redshirt campaign. Junior Bergen is another worthy mention as the Niners selected him in the seventh round, thinking he could maybe be a return specialist, but he did not deliver on that in training camp or the preseason, which is why the team traded for Skyy Moore, who has been a revelation as a returner.
Linebacker Nick Martin is an honorable mention as well. He has been forced to play due to all of the injuries at linebacker, but it has still felt like a quasi-redshirt season since he has just not been out there that much on defense despite being taken in the third round.
Maybe we will see more of these players next season, but so far this year, they just have not been out there all that much, thanks in large part to injury.