ESPN’s Mike Sando and Mel Kiper put together a ranking of the top 25 players under the age of 25, and you will be STUNNED to learn that the list does not include any members of the 49ers. The top five of ESPN’s list included WR Odell Beckham, RB Ezekiel Elliott, DL Leonard Williams, QB Dak Prescott, and RB Le’Veon Bell. The honorable mention list did include Eric Reid, so there’s that.
Below is a list of the 49ers players under the age of 25. Jaquiski Tartt, Je’Ron Hamm and Eric Reid are the only notable players that are 24. Tartt and Hamm turn 25 in the offseason, while Reid turns 25 on Saturday. We have seen some strong performances from some of these guys, but inconsistency remains a huge issue. For the rookies, you’re going to see that, and so we wait to see how they finish out the year, and what they do in year two. It’s all about learning from their mistakes and building on that. For Reid, he started the season strong, but struggled as the season wore on and depth faded along the entire defense. He was left to do a little bit of everything.
For some of the non-rookies in this group, things are not trending in the right direction. Running back Mike Davis has been inactive four straight weeks, and center Marcus Martin has contributed next to nothing. Trent Brown has shown some things at right tackle, and will hopefully take the tape and lessons from this year and build on it.
The biggest problem for the time being is we have not seen a true breakout cornerstone star from this group. If I had to bet, guys like DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead, and maybe Rashard Robinson, seem like the best candidates to develop into cornerstone pieces. The 49ers are not going to get cornerstone franchise builders regularly in the draft, but until they start getting any, they will not climb out of mediocrity.
CB Rashard Robinson - 21
OL Alex Balducci - 22 (PS)
DT DeForest Buckner - 22
WR Aaron Burbridge - 22
OG Joshua Garnett - 22
OLB Eli Harold - 22
ILB Wynton McManis - 22 (PS)
P Bradley Pinion - 22
OL Norman Price - 22 (PS)
CB Will Redmond - 22
OL John Theus - 22
DT Arik Armstead - 23
DT Ronald Blair - 23
OT Trent Brown - 23
OL Fahn Cooper - 23 (PS)
RB Mike Davis - 23
WR Mose Frazier - 23 (PS)
LB Curtis Grant - 23 (PS)
WR Chris Harper - 23
CB Prince Charles Iworah - 23 (PS)
OLB Aaron Lynch - 23
C Marcus Martin - 23
CB/KR JaCorey Shepherd - 23
TE Je’Ron Hamm - 24
RB Raheem Mostert - 24 (PS)
FS Eric Reid - 24
S Jaquiski Tartt - 24