San Francisco 49ers: Top 3 Early Standouts From Training Camp

Training camp officially started for the San Francisco 49ers on July 26 with a few players making early impressions. So let’s dive into the three players who have stood out the most so far.

It’s been almost two weeks since training camp started for the San Francisco 49ers. In that short amount of time, we have seen some players’ stocks rise and threaten to overtake veterans as a starter.

And we have also seen others have their stock go down which may lead to their loss of a starting spot or their spot on the team in general. There are still four preseason games and three more weeks of camp so players doing well now may fall off.

On top of that, those not doing well may step up by the time the regular season starts, so this is based solely on the early portion of training camp so far.

Only 53 players will make the team, so while the preseason games and training camp may not be the most entertaining things to follow or watch since winning the games is not that important and the schemes are vanilla, it does matter for the guys fighting for a roster spot.

And that is how it manages to stay interesting for the fans and why it’s actually important to the team. So let’s go over three players who have been the main standouts thus far and who will hopefully continue to stand out once we get into the preseason.

1. Dre Greenlaw

The 49ers drafted Dre Greenlaw in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft to hopefully bolster up the linebacking core that is not very strong outside of Fred Warner and the newly-acquired Kwon Alexander.

I was personally not very high on Greenlaw as a prospect and thought he was a long shot to make the 53-man roster but it turns out I have been completely wrong so far.

Greenlaw has been impressing throughout camp and is giving Malcolm Smith a push for the starting SAM linebacker spot. On Sunday’s practice, Greenlaw had his best day of camp picking up a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, as well as an interception on a throw from C.J. Beathard.

Greenlaw was drafted for his potential in coverage, so it’s a good sign that he’s excelling in the area the team was hoping he would. At the same time, the reason he lasted until the fifth round is that his play versus the run was not very good despite Greenlaw being a good tackler.

The 49ers are projected to have the worst run defense this year based solely on individual player grades from PFF, though the team was ranked 14th versus the run last year which isn’t bad.

Regardless, he will need to be decent in that area as well if he’s to not only start, but actually be a good starter for the 49ers and not just a stop-gap.

On Monday’s practice Greenlaw ended up getting the “hit of the day” on fullback Kyle Juszczyk, so he has been making plays in the run game as well.

Malcolm Smith was given a bad contract a couple of years ago, worth 25.6 million over 5 years. The 49ers restructured that contract back in March and have already paid him all the money he is guaranteed for this year.

So if he ends up losing his starting job to the rookie Greenlaw, it’s possible the 49ers will part ways with the veteran. Getting younger is always ideal so the team and fans will be hoping that Greenlaw continues to impress.