The 49ers Top 10 Players: Part 2
Today, we list the best of the best.
Previously in Part 1, we rated the 49ers’ 10th-best player through their sixth-best player: Deebo Samuel, Jimmy Garoppolo, Richard Sherman, Arik Armstead and Fred Warner. We even included an honorable mention who didn’t quite make the top 10: Dee Ford.
Today, we list the 49ers’ top-five players, starting at No. 5 and ending with No. 1.
5. Raheem Mostert
Yes, Mostert. The running back who still has never started a game in the NFL.
Last season, two players averaged more than 5.5 yards per carry: MVP Lamar Jackson, and Mostert. That’s the list. Mostert might be the best running back in the entire league -- we can’t know because the 49ers don’t give him the ball enough.
Some analysts think Mostert is a mere product of Kyle Shanahan’s system -- quite a cynical view. If that argument held water, then Tevin Coleman wouldn’t have been so mediocre last season. He would have averaged more than 4.0 measly yards per carry.
Mostert is special. He has good vision, he’s decisive in the backfield and is extremely explosive and fast. He reminds me of Jamaal Charles, who was one of the NFL’s best running backs before he tore his ACL.
Next season will be Mostert’s chance to show the league exactly what he can do with a full workload. He probably will start and receive roughly 15 carries per game. Plus, he still is one of the best special-team players in the league.
An all-around stud.
4. Kyle Juszczyk
Juszczyk might not be the 49ers’ best blocker, but he’s their most important one. And he’s a darn-good blocker in his own right.
Without Juszczyk, the 49ers offense would be no different than the Rams’ offense -- a one-back running game that lacks sophistication and volume. A simple, pared-down rushing attack opposing defenses can stop. Ask the Rams.
Juszczyk allows the 49ers to call any running play imaginable. He can be a lead blocker between the tackles or outside the tackles, he can change course multiple times during a play and he hits hard. Has zero fear. Plus he catches passes -- he’s the only 49ers player who caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.
Juszczyk is the NFL’s best fullback since Mike Alstott.
3. Nick Bosa
Depending on who you ask, Bosa already is the best player on the 49ers, or the best pass rusher in the NFL, or the best player of all time. A cross between Michael Strahan and the Hulk.
Slow down.
Bosa is a terrific player -- already one of the best on the 49ers. He reminds me of a young Justin Smith, who always played extremely hard. Bosa is relentless. He refuses to stay blocked. He always reaches the quarterback eventually. And he might be the strongest player on the team. But he still has just nine career sacks. Let's not anoint him the greatest player ever just yet.
Bosa can climb this list simply by staying healthy. He didn’t miss a game in 2019, but he missed lots of games in college. We’ll see how he holds up. So far, so good.
2. Trent Williams
Williams hasn’t played in a season and a half. But when he plays, he’s the best left tackle in the NFL. The 49ers might give him a $20 million contract next offseason when he becomes a free agent.
Williams is a 6’5”, 320-pound left tackle who moves like a wide receiver. He’s the quickest, fastest, most-coordinated left tackle the 49ers have ever had -- even more coordinated than Joe Staely, an all-time great. Williams makes Staley look slow in comparison.
Williams should improve both the 49ers’ run blocking and pass protection.
1. George Kittle
Most good tight ends do one or two things well.
Kittle does everything a tight end can do well. He runs routes like a wide receiver. He’s almost impossible to tackle with just one defender. And his best quality is his blocking.
Who IS this guy?
Kittle already is one of the greatest young tight ends ever. Only Mike Ditka and Rob Gronkowski rival Kittle’s production the first three seasons of his career.
And Kittle still can improve. He has scored just 12 touchdowns in his career. He should score 12 touchdowns next season if the 49ers find more creative ways to use him in the red zone. And he should catch even more passes if the 49ers let him run more routes on third and long. Last year in that situation during the Super Bowl, with the season on the line, the 49ers made Kittle block. Weird.
Kittle could go down as one of the greatest 49ers of all time -- they just have to extend his contract. They probably should get on that soon.
