The 49ers badly needed their 2019 draft class to step up if the team was going to be a factor in a loaded NFC. Their 13-3 finish and No. 1 seed in the NFC are a good indicator of how effective their rookies were.
Anyone who watched the 49ers on a regular basis knew the impact the first-year players were having, and it’s the reason three of their draft picks landed on the 2019 Pro Football Focus All-Rookie Team.
Two players on San Francisco’s terrific defense landed on the football analytics site’s star-studded group of first-year players.
The first is defensive end and No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa. Bosa was also the PFF Defensive Rookie of the Year. None of this should come as a surprise. Bosa racked up 9.0 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 25 quarterback hits, two pass breakups, an interception, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
If it seemed like Bosa was in the backfield on just about every play – it’s because he was. PFF had the Ohio State product down for 80 quarterback pressures, which is 14 more than any other rookie since PFF started tracking that data in 2006.
The other player to land on the PFF All-Rookie squad is fifth-round linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Greenlaw landed a starting job as the Sam linebacker in base packages. While it is technically a starting role, Greenlaw was regularly playing less than 30 percent of the snaps. His stock started climbing when Kwon Alexander got hurt in Week 11, and Greenlaw found himself in the starting Will linebacker spot, which effectively made him an every-down player on the 49ers’ defense.
The former Arkansas Razorback responded in a big way. He racked up 87 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and two pass breakups.
Coverage is where PFF really recognized Greenlaw though. In a league where having linebackers that can cover is more paramount to defensive success than ever, Greenlaw was among the NFL’s best in 2019:
He was one of the best linebackers in the league at limiting receiving production. Among linebackers who were targeted 50 or more times this year, only Darius Leonard, Jayon Brown and Eric Kendricks allowed a lower passer rating than Greenlaw’s mark of 83.6.
The final 49er on the PFF All-Rookie Team was on the offensive side – wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
Samuel, the No. 36 overall pick in 2019, came on strong at the end of the year and wound up with one of the best rookie seasons ever for a 49ers wide receiver. He finished with 57 receptions, 802 receiving yards and three touchdowns, along with 14 carries for 159 yards and three touchdowns. His 961 yards from scrimmage were the most ever by a 49ers rookie receiver.
The remarkable part about Samuel’s season is that after Week 9, he had just 26 catches, 258 yards and one touchdown. As the stage grew, so did Samuel’s production. Over the final eight games, Samuel had 35 receptions for 575 yards and two touchdowns. 122 of his rushing yards and two of his rushing touchdowns also came in the latter half of the season.
San Francisco wasn’t going to go 4-12 again this season as long as Jimmy Garoppolo was healthy, but their path to achieving the heights they reached in 2019 had to involve their rookies. Any level of production would’ve been good, but top-end work from Bosa, Greenlaw and Samuel helped elevate the 49ers on both sides of the ball. It also sets them up to contend for multiple years, especially if next year’s class is as good as this one.