SANTA CLARA - Several 49ers players in their second season have not lived up to the expectations set after break out rookie campaigns. Coach Kyle Shanahan can't put his finger on why exactly this has happened, but hopes to see continued improvement.
The 49ers ended the 2017 season with one of the most productive rookie classes in the league. They collectively played 2,874 snaps which was significantly more than any other rookie class. It helped them get valuable playing time under their belts. The Saints rookie class had the second most, collectively playing 2,213 snaps.
The 49ers rookies were forced into action due to injuries, but they stepped up and performed when they were called upon.
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SIGN UP HERE Injuries have been an issue again in 2018, but what has been surprising is the lack of production by several of the standouts that are now in their second seasons. Shanahan spoke after the team's 39-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams about several of the second-year players who have struggled.
“They came in ready to take it to another level and they haven’t,” Shanahan said. “They haven’t done that so far. That stuff is hard. The NFL is not easy. You’re not just guaranteed because you had some success at the end of the year that you’ll come in and just pick up right where you left off.”
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Of course it hasn’t all been bad, but living up to expectations set from a productive rookie campaign has been tough on some of the players. Defensive back Ahkello Witherspoon and safety Adrian Colbert were thrown into the fire last season and played well above expectations.
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This season, Witherspoon has been challenged by playing opposite of veteran Richard Sherman, who has rarely been targeted.
“I didn’t think he got off to the same start this year,” Shanahan said about Witherspoon. “He’s been a lot more up and down. I thought yesterday he took a step in the right direction. I thought he had one of his better games this year. Hopefully, that’ll continue to trend that way so he can get back to the level of last year and more.”
Shanahan couldn’t put his finger on what has been the challenge for Witherspoon and Colbert.
“You’ve got to ask them," Shanahan said. “You fight through some things. You come in as rookies, you’re not really sure what to expect and you get a little bit of feel as the year goes and you have a little success as the year ends. You come in and those guys worked extremely hard in the offseason."
Witherspoon will have the opportunity to keep working and improve through the remaining nine games. Colbert will have to wait until 2019 after being placed on injured reserve after he suffered a high ankle sprain facing the Rams.
“They’ve had to really work through that," Shanahan said. "Work through some of these games, some ups and downs, losing some playing time. They’ve gotten better in practice and I thought it carried over to the game this week. I know it won’t for Colbert as we go, but hopefully Ahkello will continue to grow from it.”
Trent Taylor and Reuben Foster have been fighting through injuries, but their production hasn’t been as high as expected after their rookie seasons. The expectations were also high for Solomon Thomas, coming in as the third overall pick of the 2017 draft. He has struggled to receive significant playing time in the defensive line rotation.
Shanahan spoke about the reality of the cliché "sophomore slump."
“I’ve seen it a lot over my years, Shanahan said. “I say percentage-wise it happens to a lot of people. That doesn’t mean everybody in their second year is like that. But I think you come in as a rookie, you don’t really know what to expect.
“You’re just wide eyed and just trying your hardest to make a dream come true and you don’t even look back. You grind every day trying to get there and you don’t even know why you got in or what happened. You’re just sitting there trying to survive and not get cut. Then you start to gain some confidence that you can play in this league.
“Then you come back the next year and you want to take it to the next level. You do a little bit more, you work more, put a little bit more pressure on yourself and try to do extra and you end up forgetting kind of what got you there. I think that does happen to people when you say the sophomore slump, but it doesn’t happen with everyone.”