49ers training camp: 4 winners, 2 losers after first week

Niner Noise looks at the 49ers' biggest winners and losers from the opening week of training camp.

A full week of training camp is in the books for the San Francisco 49ers, and the intensity will surely pick up between now and the start of the preseason in a couple of weeks.

That said, there have been some notable developments from the first few days.

With All-Pro edge Nick Bosa still holding out amid a contract dispute, the rest of the Niners defensive line has had a chance to showcase its mettle, and a number of 2022 underachievers have risen to the surface in a major way, Drake Jackson and Javon Kinlaw.

Sure, one-on-one reps won't mean much, but it's still important to win those anyway, and both Jackson and Kinlaw are repeatedly in the news cycle during practices for executing in such ways.

Same with scrimmages, too.

However, of those two, only Kinlaw made our list of the biggest winners from the first week of San Francisco's training camp (and he's surely not one of the two biggest losers either).

Who are some of the winners? Let's take a look.

4 biggest winners from first week of 49ers training camp

DT Javon Kinlaw

After appearing in only 10 games combined over the last two seasons because of injury, Kinlaw isn't a player the 49ers should count upon, and they went out and paid former Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave a lot of money to make up for Kinlaw's lack of impact.

It'd be understandable why the criticism would mentally wear Kinlaw down. But, according to fellow defensive tackle Arik Armstead (h/t 49ers Webzone), Kinlaw is in a great place right now:

"JK has been balling. It's been great to see his progress and his process. I dealt with injuries early in my career and really couldn't find my footing. Once I was able to string along some good health, I was able to play some good football. And he's been looking amazing. He's healthy, and he's been dominating."

The Niners opted not to pick up Kinlaw's fifth-year option for 2024, meaning he's entering a contract year and appears to be using the motivation to his advantage.

WR Brandon Aiyuk

Deebo Samuel might be San Francisco's most popular wide receiver, but he's not the team's best at that position.

Nope. That's Brandon Aiyuk.

Aiyuk is clearly the top route runner on the team, and even Sports Illustrated's Grant Cohn showered the fourth-year pro with the kind of praise rarely reserved for anyone but the best:

"I've covered some great 49ers wide receivers in their prime -- Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree, Deebo Samuel, to name a few. Right now, Aiyuk is the best 49ers wide receiver I've ever seen in person on the practice field. He's unstoppable."

Aiyuk promised a massive season in 2023, and it sure looks as if he's backing up the talk.

WR Danny Gray

A year ago, San Francisco drafted wide receiver Danny Gray in the third round because of his breakneck speed. Unfortunately, all that translated into was the speedster recording one reception for 10 yards on seven targets during the regular season.

Gray didn't make much of a rookie-year impact for a number of reasons, including an inability to run complex routes and not being much of a blocker.

Either way, he needed a sense of urgency heading into year two.

While Aiyuk is the No. 1 offensive player for the 49ers through one week of camp, Gray might be the one who has made up the most ground, even earning some serious praise from general manager John Lynch:

"Danny’s always shown a want to go make those blocks and things. Now he’s taking his game to the next level and we’re starting to see it. I know he gets frustrated because he feels like he can run and if they can just get it out there, he can run by anyone. But he’s doing his job over and over and my experience in the league, when you’re doing it over and over and doing things the right way, it will start to show up on the field. And we’re starting to see glimpses."

Gray, who was on the fringes of making the 53-man roster, is looking like he'll be a necessary part of the depth chart based on his first week of practices.

QB Sam Darnold

If you were to tell anyone else outside the 49ers organization and fanbase that quarterback Sam Darnold, who already flamed out with two different teams after being selected No. 3 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, was having a solid training camp with the Niners, they probably wouldn't believe you.

Or they would, simply because San Francisco is the best context in which Darnold has played to date.

Granted, Darnold's roster spot is pretty safe after the 49ers gave him $3.5 million guaranteed during the offseason, but he actually has come around during camp practices, too,

Had Darnold flamed out and looked terrible, it wouldn't have been shocking. The Niners would have been criticized for giving the quarterback that much guaranteed money, and that'd be it.

Instead, it appears as if Darnold is coming along nicely.

2 biggest losers from first week of 49ers training camp

QB Trey Lance

It's not quite fair to lump Trey Lance into this category, but there's a lot of merit to doing so.

For starters, and despite his own rough start to training camp, Brock Purdy is all but cemented in as the Niners' No. 1 quarterback to open the season, and that's fine. Purdy has plenty of time to shake off the rust after suffering a torn UCL last January.

However, where Lance enters the mix as a loser is merely because his sole job during camp was to wholly outpace Darnold by a wide margin. Not stay stride for stride with him, which is precisely what's going on now.

Remember, for every winner, there has to be a loser. If Darnold is winning, it ultimately means Lance is losing.

Lance has had his good days, yes. No questioning that. And he's making the team's decision on Purdy's primary backup exceptionally difficult.

However, Lance needed to make it a no-brainer. Instead, more signs are pointing to him being QB3 on the depth chart, which is quite the fall for the No. 3 overall pick from the 2021 draft.

EDGE Clelin Ferrell

It was potentially exciting to see whether or not another top-10 NFL Draft pick, edge Clelin Ferrell, could resurrect his otherwise scuffling career with San Francisco, turning into yet another one of those reclamation defensive linemen the 49ers seemingly turn out on a yearly basis.

Well, not so much.

For starters, Ferrell smacked the surgically repaired elbow of Purdy in a similar fashion to how the quarterback suffered his original injury, which isn't good.

On top of that, Ferrell's one-on-one drills and team drills have underwhelmed. In a situation where he could make up ground on the Niners' D-line depth chart sans Bosa, it doesn't appear as if Ferrell is doing what needs to be done in order to turn around his career.

It's too bad, too, as Ferrell has long had the talent but never the total surroundings to put it all together at the pro level.

So far, it doesn't appear as if much is different with San Francisco.

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