Ranking 49ers draft picks based on potential impact as rookies

The 49ers’ rookie class has a chance to be extremely effective right away.

The 49ers made a significant gamble in the 2020 draft when they maneuvered to wind up with just five selections. Their moves left them with a pair of first-round picks, then single selections in each of the final three rounds.

Because of the limited number of players from this year’s class, each one’s role is easy to envision. We’ve already gone through and speculated as to what that role might be, but now we’ve looked at the class and ranked the picks in order of potential impact in their rookie year.

5. TE Charlie Woerner

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Even if Woerner lands the TE2 job and beats out Ross Dwelley it’s going to be difficult for him to have a massive impact on the team. He is a very good run blocker though who should act as a difference-maker when he is in the game. The problem for his impact is that even if he mirrors Dwelley’s playing time from last year, he’ll only be in on about a quarter of the offensive snaps.