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49ers Had NFL's 7th-Most-Productive Rookie Class in 2024

2024 wasn't all bad for the 49ers.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are coming off a dismal 6-11 season and just watched nine starters leave in free agency. But 2024 wasn't all bad for the 49ers.

They also had the seventh-most productive rookie class in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. Which means the 49ers have hope for the future.

"San Francisco’s 2024 season was a disappointment, but not because of its draft picks," writes PFF analyst Bradley Locker. "Third-round guard Dominick Puni was a revelation, turning in 0.33 WAR and an 80.5 PFF overall grade — which ranked sixth among qualifiers at the position. The 49ers’ injuries in the secondary were mitigated by the play of Renardo Green (74.3 PFF coverage grade) and Malik Mustapha (66.3 PFF run-defense grade).

"Despite playing in only 11 games, first-round pick Ricky Pearsall still managed to accrue 0.12 WAR with a 64.1 PFF receiving grade. Most impressive might be that none of the 49ers’ rookies contributed negative WAR."

In addition, fourth-round pick Isaac Guerendo was extremely efficient both as a runner and as a receiver in limited reps. He should be the 49ers' No. 2 running back next season.

But as productive as these rookies were, the only one of them who's proven to be a quality starter is Puni. The other rookies are promising but still unproven. We don't know if Mustapha, Green, Pearsall or Guerendo ever will be difference makers the way Puni already is one.

Still, 2024's draft class should give the 49ers confidence that they can draft well again this year. And they'll need to draft well after losing so many starters in one offseason.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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