The 49ers featured rookies aplenty in 2024, which makes end-of-season grades far more interesting than in previous seasons.
Historically, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan hasn't called upon rookies to hold significant roles right out of the gate. Sure, there might be a player or two each year who sees more time than usual because of one reason or another.
However, it's been evident Shanahan prefers experience over youthful potential.
Much of that changed in 2024, though, when the Niners employed an NFL Draft strategy that focused on collegiate experience; many of the selected prospects coming to the Bay Area with at least four years of playing time in the college ranks.
While San Francisco's season concluded with a disappointing 6-11 record and last-place finish within the NFC West, many of the team's first-year pros impressed well beyond desired levels of expectation.
Considering Niner Noise's first-half grades (found here), let's look at end-of-year grades for the 49ers' crop of rookies while anticipating what 2025 holds in store.
49ers rookie grades from 2024
2024 totals: 11 games, 31 receptions, 400 yards, 3 TDs
It's nearly impossible to grade the Niners' top pick from the 2024 draft, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, given his life nearly ended due to a scary gunshot wound suffered in an attempted robbery mere days before the regular season began.
That cut into his first year, obviously, but the fact he was able to return for San Francisco's final 11 games is nothing short of miraculous.
Pearsall's first touchdown was in pure playmaking style, yes. But he was notably quiet thereafter until the 49ers hosted the Detroit Lions in Week 17, putting up a whopping 141 yards and eight catches with a touchdown.
A 69-yard, one-touchdown effort a week later in the regular-season finale helped suggest Pearsall is on the ascent, but the relative disappearing act in between his first and last touchdowns hinder the first-round pick's grade.
Outlook for 2025: Much of it hinges on the respective futures of wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. Samuel, a potential cap casualty this offseason, could find himself playing elsewhere in 2025. Aiyuk, meanwhile, is recovering from a torn ACL and MCL suffered in Week 7, and he might not be 100 percent to open up next season.
Should either veteran be absent come Week 1, Pearsall benefits and should hold a larger role.
2024 totals: 17 games, 61 tackles, 13 passes defended, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble
Revamping the secondary was a key part of the Niners' draft plans last April, which included using a second-round pick on Florida State cornerback Renardo Green.
Despite not starting right away, Green's ascent came because of injuries, and he took advantage of the opportunity and finished the season with a high-quality 74.3 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, 27th out of 223 corners graded.
Green still needs some polish defending against the run, and he was slapped with eight missed tackles on the year and two accepted penalties against.
However, it appears as if San Francisco has found a long-term answer in the defensive backfield.
Outlook for 2025: Green, along with recently extended Deommodore Lenoir, will comprise two-thirds of the starting cornerback room, assuming Charvarius Ward departs in free agency.
2024 totals: 17 games started at right guard
The 49ers ended up with only one plug-and-play starter at the beginning of the season, third-round draftee Dominick Puni, who seized the first-team right guard spot in training camp and never looked back.
Puni maintained his collegiate reputation for being excellent in pass protection, and despite some late-season challenges in the penalty department, his efforts over the course of year one suggest a gem of a find for the Niners, who'll look to continue upgrading the offensive line in 2025 and beyond.
In recognition of Puni's efforts, PFF named the former Kansas Jayhawk to their 2024 All-Rookie team, one of two San Francisco players to accomplish the feat.
Outlook for 2025: With left guard Aaron Banks poised to hit free agency, it's possible Puni moves over to the weak side of the O-line. Either way, the latter is poised to be a mainstay in the trenches for the foreseeable future.
2024 totals: 16 games, 72 tackles, 5 passes defended, 1 INT
Green excelled as a first-year defensive back, but safety Malik Mustapha is arguably the biggest rookie standout behind Puni, joining the lineman on the aforementioned PFF All-Rookie list.
Mustapha took advantage of a shorthanded safety room that was without All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga for much of the year, and with fellow safety Ji'Ayir Brown's second-year regression, the fourth-round draftee emerged as yet another long-term piece who should be exciting to watch for years to come.
Aside from the fact Mustapha held opposing quarterbacks to a 36.5 passer rating when targeting him, giving up just six completions on 19 targets, the 5-foot-11 defensive back delivered some bone-jarring hits that quickly made him a fan-favorite.
Outlook for 2025: Hufanga is a pending free agent, while Brown's future is cloudy.
Mustapha, meanwhile, is all but guaranteed a starting job next season after climbing the depth chart in year one.
2024 totals: 16 games, 420 rush yards (5.0 yards per attempt), 152 receiving yards, 4 TDs
If it weren't for the sheer magnitude of injuries at running back, Isaac Guerendo's name wouldn't be particularly known in the wake of the season.
Yet the 49ers were forced to dig deep into their crop of tailbacks, especially in the aftermath of All-Pro Christian McCaffrey missing all but three games during the year and Jordan Mason going down with shoulder and ankle issues.
Guerendo, who looked like an unpolished rookie in limited action early, nevertheless flashed the 4.3 40-yard speed that earned him a draft-day phone call from the Niners, taking the reins in the backfield until he, too, suffered a knee injury during Week 18.
A 78-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Chicago Bears helped suggest what Guerendo might be capable of in a featured role.
Injuries set Guerendo back from a higher grade, but he'll nevertheless be a valuable asset to what's been a depleted running back room as of late.
Outlook for 2025: McCaffrey is poised to return fully healthy, but Mason is a restricted free agent.
Assuming San Francisco opts to let Mason walk, Guerendo could see himself emerge as the No. 2 behind McCaffrey next year.
2024 totals: 15 games, 4 receptions, 80 receiving yards, 245 punt-return yards, 2 fumbles
Wide receiver Jacob Cowing might be the 49ers' most disappointing rookie who stayed on the roster until the end of 2024, but that's not necessarily a horrible indictment.
After all, Cowing is more of a speedy gadget player who was never going to see too much field time in year one despite injuries to Aiyuk, Samuel and even Pearsall. Shanahan even pointed out for much of the season the Arizona State product still had work to do in order to become a regular part of the offensive rotation.
That left Cowing to contribute primarily on special teams where he served as a regular punt-return specialist, returning 28 boots but fumbling two of them.
Those two hurt.
Outlook for 2025: The back end of the Niners' wide receiver room is again going to be a question mark, but Cowing didn't do much to ensure he'll have a bona fide role going forward.
His future hinges largely upon what San Francisco does at the position in both free agency and the 2025 draft.
2024 totals: 11 games, 7 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries
Not much should be expected out of seventh-round picks (don't tell quarterback Brock Purdy), but linebacker Tatum Bethune provided enough of a glimpse to suggest he could hang around as a key backup for the 49ers over the next few years.
Injuries limited the 6-foot-1, 230-pound defender to just 11 games where he primarily contributed on special teams. But, the fact he was given an opportunity to start in the Week 18 finale against the Arizona Cardinals suggests the Niners would like to see more.
Especially considering there could be some notable turnover at the position this offseason.
Outlook for 2025: Behind All-Pro Fred Warner, San Francisco has awfully few clear answers. Dre Greenlaw is a pending free agent, and so is another special teams ace, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. De'Vondre Campbell needs not to be discussed.
That leaves Bethune and Dee Winters as the only rostered options to support Warner, but it's likely the former assumes more of a special teams/primary backup role than anything else.