Which 49ers Players Made ESPN’s Top 100 NFL Players?

The NFL spent a better part of August releasing its top 100 players where seven members of the San Francisco 49ers made the list.

Now, it’s ESPN’s turn.

With the help of more than 50 NFL experts under the ESPN umbrella, a panel of experts selected which players they believe will stand out during the 2022 season. According to the ESPN article, emphasis was placed “solely on expectations for the upcoming season and predicting potential greatness, rather than past performance, career résumé or positional value.”

The Los Angeles Chargers lead the way with eight players making the list. Five teams — New York Jets, New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, and the New England Patriots — were not represented.

Five players from the San Francisco 49ers made the list. Three players ranked within the top 25 and all five made the top 50. Leading the way as the highest-rated 49er is defensive end Nick Bosa at No. 15. Last year, he ranked at 15, too.

Bosa has a knack for getting after the quarterback. Per ESPN metrics powered by NFL Next Gen Stats, he created the first pressure on 95 plays last season, the third most in the NFL, trailing only Donald (112) and Maxx Crosby (99).

Bosa is coming off a year with 15.5 sacks and 47 tackles. ESPN’s panel of experts projects he won’t get the same number of sacks, but his tackles will increase, predicting he’ll end the season with 58 tackles.

Next to Bosa is offensive tackle Trent Williams. Last year, he was ranked 13th, so he dropped only three slots in this year’s projections. However, ESPN’s NFL Nation believes he’ll still be a force to reckon with.

Williams allowed zero sacks on 285 pass-blocking snaps last season, the third-most pass-blocking plays without allowing a sack in the NFL. He finished top-10 in pass block win rate among tackles in each of the past two seasons and has nine Pro Bowl selections since 2012, tied for the most Pro Bowl selections by any player in the league in that span.

Rounding out the top 25 is linebacker Fred Warner. The 25-year-old ranked 30th last year, so ESPN’s panel believes he’ll improve on his 2021 season of 137 tackles and four pass breakups.

The two remaining players within the top 50 are wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle, ranking at 28 and 38 respectively. Samuel wasn’t ranked in 2021 and he made sure that wasn’t going to happen again. Last year, Samuel “became the first player since 1999 and third in NFL history to have at least 1,000 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns and five rushing scores in the same season.”

Kittle saw the biggest drop of all the 49ers players who were ranked last year, falling from 19 to late 30s. When healthy, production from Kittle is not an issue. The key phrase though is “when healthy.” Kittle hasn’t played a full season since 2018. Last year, he missed three games due to various injuries.

One player who was notably absent was wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Earlier in the summer, ESPN listed Aiyuk as a potential “post-hype breakout” player this season.