49ers Top 10 Young Players in Camp (Barrows)

[y2lamanaki]

An interesting look at the top young players that have stood out in camp according to Barrows. Most of the list has been covered if you have been following our threads in this forum. But here's one that hasn't been covered: 

Quote

OT Darrell Williams. The fourth undrafted player on this list, Williams may not be as big as Trent Brown, but at 6-5, 315 and with an 81-inch wingspan, his size is impressive. Unlike most undrafted offensive linemen, Williams has fared pretty well in one-on-one pass blocking situations, which inherently favor defensive linemen. When Joe Staley gets a rest, John Theus, a 2016 draft pick, steps in at left tackle with the first-string offense while Williams plays with the second-team unit. He appears to be a good candidate to make the practice squad.

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article164753867.html

 

Given that offensive line was a unit the team did not address during the draft (opting for free agent competition), it is nice to see one of the undrafted guys standing out - especially since it's an unsexy position that the beat writers won't normally cover outside of the competitions on the line. 

[Forge]

Just now, y2lamanaki said:

An interesting look at the top young players that have stood out in camp according to Barrows. Most of the list has been covered if you have been following our threads in this forum. But here's one that hasn't been covered: 

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article164753867.html

 

Given that offensive line was a unit the team did not address during the draft (opting for free agent competition), it is nice to see one of the undrafted guys standing out - especially since it's an unsexy position that the beat writers won't normally cover outside of the competitions on the line. 

I read this article as well, and like you, the one I found pretty fascinating was Williams. That line is very underwhelming so far, so any sort of battle that a guy like this could give, I absolutely love. Hadn't heard anything positive really about him thus far, so this was sort of a pleasant surprise. 

Also interesting? Armstead, heading into year 3, is still younger than several of our rookies lol. 

[y2lamanaki]

Just now, Forge said:

I read this article as well, and like you, the one I found pretty fascinating was Williams. That line is very underwhelming so far, so any sort of battle that a guy like this could give, I absolutely love. Hadn't heard anything positive really about him thus far, so this was sort of a pleasant surprise. 

Also interesting? Armstead, heading into year 3, is still younger than several of our rookies lol. 

Yeah, I loved reading that about Williams for that reason, too. The only time I noticed him, I thought he had held his own surprisingly well against one of our LEO guys in one of those one-on-one drills, but it's hard to take too much from one 20 second clip of camp. So glad he stood out otherwise as well. Maybe he can be like an Alex Boone for us. 

And yeah, I forgot Armstead was so young as well. That's good...because if this pass-rushing role ends up working out, he'll have about a good decade in front of him, still. 

[Fureys49ers]

Breida, Williams, Jerome and Chancellor all impressing is fantastic news to me and such a beautiful thing to hear as for many years under Baalke even our drafted rookies failed to make any positive news. Four undrafted first year guys making noise is exciting. 

[Forge]

5 minutes ago, Fureys49ers said:

Breida, Williams, Jerome and Chancellor all impressing is fantastic news to me and such a beautiful thing to hear as for many years under Baalke even our drafted rookies failed to make any positive news. Four undrafted first year guys making noise is exciting. 

And that didn't even include Cole, who I think is a lock to stick in some capacity. 

[y2lamanaki]

57 minutes ago, Fureys49ers said:

Breida, Williams, Jerome and Chancellor all impressing is fantastic news to me and such a beautiful thing to hear as for many years under Baalke even our drafted rookies failed to make any positive news. Four undrafted first year guys making noise is exciting. 

To be fair - a lot of Baalke's undrafted free agents shined this time of year. Ian Williams, DeMarcus Dobbs, Nathan Palmer, Chuck Jacobs, Kevin McDermott, Darryl Morris, Mike Purcell, LJ McCray, Asante Cleveland, Dillon Farrell, Marcus Rush, and DeAndrew White who were all impressive in training camp/preseason. That's not even including guys like Tramaine Brock, Tony Jerrod-Eddie, and others who ended up making the team later. 

And with a team as depleted of talent as this one is/was, it's a bit easier for undrafted guys to shine over their counterparts. So it's grain of salt time with all of these UDFAs. It's great to see/hear, but we'll see how it translates in the long run. 

But to be clear - I'm super excited about Breida, Jerome, Campbell, Hikutini, and now Williams. 

[Fureys49ers]

That's true too @y2lamanaki but it just feels a little different this time around. And I was a big fan Hikutini's of coming into the draft @Forge so I'm pretty happy he's showing up. I know it's been four days of training camp in what is a long rebuild of our team but I'm pretty excited about what I'm hearing about our draft class from 1st rounders down to our UDFAs as well as the FA additions like Mitchell and Goodwin. Definitely not the same regime leading us anymore and I couldn't be happier.

[y2lamanaki]

3 minutes ago, Fureys49ers said:

That's true too @y2lamanaki but it just feels a little different this time around. And I was a big fan Hikutini's of coming into the draft @Forge so I'm pretty happy he's showing up. I know it's been four days of training camp in what is a long rebuild of our team but I'm pretty excited about what I'm hearing about our draft class from 1st rounders down to our UDFAs as well as the FA additions like Mitchell and Goodwin. Definitely not the same regime leading us anymore and I couldn't be happier.

Same here - from players added this year - great things are being said about Hoyer, Breida, Hightower, Garcon, Goodwin, Taylor, Kittle, Hikutini, Williams, Mitchell, Thomas, Foster, Jerome, and James. Nothing bad about a few others. That's an impressive overhaul in one year if it all pans out.