The 49ers are expecting a lot from their rookies, and George Kittle drew parallels between this group and his draft class.
The first draft class of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch’s time at the helm of the 49ers is best remembered for landing San Francisco arguably the best player of this era of the franchise.
Had it not been for the selection of George Kittle in the fifth round, the 2017 draft might be looked on retrospectively as a failure for the 49ers. Because of his continued success, it remains one of the most pivotal for the Shanahan-Lynch regime, with Kittle still a cornerstone for San Francisco who will be crucial to their hopes of contending in 2025.
After encouraging signs from their 2024 class, the 49ers are hoping their 2025 draft will prove a transformational one, and Kittle sees parallels between this group of rookies and the one that helped start the Niners’ rebuild eight years ago.
Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco for the ‘49ers Talk’ podcast, Kittle said: “I’m expecting a lot of them [the rookies] to contribute at a high level. It kind of reminds me of my rookie class. They [the coaching staff] expected, basically, our whole draft class to play and perform, and I think a lot of us did play and perform our rookie year.”
Kittle is right in that the rookies will likely see a lot of playing time year one.
Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins and CJ West should have substantial roles to play on the defensive line, while third-rounders Nick Martin and Upton Stout could start at WILL linebacker and nickel cornerback respectively.
But the 49ers will hope that is where the parallels end, as they need this draft class to be much more successful as a collective than that of 2017.
Though Kittle proved a steal, first-round picks Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster were unequivocally busts. C.J. Beathard was a reach with a third-round pick and, while fifth-rounder Trent Taylor had some strong early production, the wide receiver is unlikely to make the 53 this year in his second spell with the team.
San Francisco’s only other undoubted success from the 2017 draft beyond Kittle was sixth-round defensive tackle D.J. Jones, who left after the 2021 season having excelled as a run stopper and provided better than expected play as a pass rusher.
The 49ers need at least one of Collins and West to excel in the same regard, but the reality is they will require several more members of the class to thrive for the 2025 draft to set the team up to continue to contend in the years to come.
And Kittle is clear in what the 49ers need to do to ensure that happens.
He added:
“We still have a fantastic foundation of vets who have been there, from our D-line, linebackers, tight ends, running back, quarterbacks, offensive line. It’s just [up to] us to uphold the standard and get those guys as game-ready as quickly as possible. [We’ve got to] try to make practice as game-like as possible,” he explained. “And I think Kyle does a really good job about that, with our move-the-ball periods and getting guys acclimated really quickly.”
Pressure makes diamonds, and the 49ers will hope that the pressure on the rookies of needing to acclimate quickly will produce a few gems from this draft class.