With the NFL pre-season underway, it’s that time of year for players to get themselves back in the swing of things. But first, before all players come back, this year’s class of rookies are given first priority. For the San Francisco 49ers, rookie mini-camp lasted a span of three days, from May 14-17. This gives fans a first look at how rookies are coming along so far. So, let’s take a look at how some 49ers rookies performed. 

R1, P3: QB Trey Lance

Trey Lance was the 3rd overall pick in this year’s draft as the eventual successor to Jimmy Garoppolo and the hopeful face of the franchise. He has looked very promising so far, completing 20 of his 24 passes. Although Lance was highly praised for his arm talent, most of his passes were checkdowns. Overall, things are looking as good as advertised. 

R3, P25: RB Trey Sermon

Yes, these two share the same names. In my honest opinion, Sermon is a very promising player to me, and I feel he has the potential to become a #1 back in this league. He can definitely contribute to 49ers. In practice, he ran a nice angle route that swept his former Ohio State teammate LB Justin Hilliard off his feet (literally). 

R5, P28: CB Deommodore Lenoir

Lenoir was great in practice, and as a matter of fact, one of his plays went viral, which earned him praise from HOF cornerback Deion Sanders. Lenoir sent undrafted free-agent Austin Watkins Jr. stumbling to the ground off the release, and then maneuvered his way into picking off a Trey Lance pass. His fellow rookie teammate CB Ambry Thomas did just as well. 

R5, P36: S Talanoa Hufanga 

Hufanga, along with Lance, was given the “gold-helmet” mark during pre-draft evaluations, meaning that the 49ers would make sure to draft these guys no matter the cost. Hufanga did get juked out during one-on-ones, as he does struggle in man-to-man coverage. However, he still has plenty of time to make up for it. 

R6, P10: RB Elijah Mitchell

Mitchell was one of only two running backs in the entire draft to have an athleticism score of 99 (The other RB was Travis Entienne, drafted in the first round). So far he’s lived up to the score, as he torched LB Justin Hilliard on a wheel route.