Which Player on the 49ers Will Exceed Expectations in 2022?

This player is back to playing his natural position, which will allow him to play more comfortably and make an impact for the 49ers.

Expectations are set for every player on the 49ers.

Some will fall short of those expectations, while others will meet or even exceed them. Deebo Samuel is a perfect example of that last year. No one could have expected him to be such a phenomenal offensive weapon as a wide receiver and running back. 2022 is going to find a new player who strikes the ground with Thor's hammer.

So which player on the 49ers will exceed expectations in 2022?

I would say Aaron Banks. His rookie season was massively disappointing. The former second-round pick couldn't beat out Daniel Brunskill for the starting right guard spot and spent a portion of the year dealing with an injury. A terrible start to his career thus far, but I wouldn't really give him full blame on that. The 49ers played him at a position that he was new to. Left guard is his moneymaker and the 49ers took him away from that.

For whatever reason, the 49ers just LOVE to take players who are good at their natural position and move them somewhere else that will cause them to struggle. Now that Banks is back at his natural position, he can prove to be a solid player. Banks was a second-round pick for a reason. That is a heavily weighed draft pick, so he has some semblance of being able to play well. And now that he has a season under his belt to understand how the NFL is and what is needed of him, he can find his stride fairly early in the season.

Not to mention that he has Trent Williams next to him to help him ascend as well. Banks is the most primed to exceed expectations this season for the 49ers. Every time a player they move out of position goes back to their comfort zone, he ends up playing well. Even Solomon Thomas showed to be a solid rotational player when he was finally kicked inside. The 49ers just need to stop fitting triangles into squares and let their players do what they do best.

Banks' best is at left guard. 

And with a sour feeling from his porous rookie season, the guy can be going into 2022 with a head full of steam to prove 2021 was a fluke.