{"id":9858,"date":"2024-12-11T09:16:03","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T09:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=9858"},"modified":"2024-12-11T09:16:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T09:16:03","slug":"kyle-shanahan-shouts-out-2-sf-rookies-for-stepping-up-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=9858","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Shanahan shouts out 2 SF rookies for stepping up in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyle Shannahan is still proud of how these 49ers rookies have played so far.<\/p>\n

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\"Kyle<\/p>\n
While the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers’ 2024 NFL season hasn’t gone as planned, one of the minor bright spots has been the emergence of rookies\u00a0Dominick Puni and Malik Mustapha, who have become forces for the team at right guard and safety, respectively.<\/p>\n

The third and fourth selections by the 49ers back in April, San Francisco finally loaded up on quality young players after spending years working at a loss due to trades for players like Christian McCaffrey\u00a0\u2013 worth it \u2013 and Trey Lance \u2013 not so much. But did even\u00a0Kyle Shanahan\u00a0expect the duo of Puni and Mustapha, mid-round picks from unconventional schools, to catch on this quickly? It’s hard to say, but the veteran head coach did not say that he knew they would be players early on,\u00a0as they both came into camp ready to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve helped us out all year. They came out real strong and showed right away in camp. Puni earning that starting position with two injuries, I think, in the first three days at camp. So he\u2019s basically been the starter since day three. And he acted like the starter right away, and he\u2019s continued that throughout the year,\u201d Shanahan told reporters. \u201cMalik getting his opportunity with some injuries also. But both of them have been playing at a high level. It is tough this time of year for all these rookies. They\u2019re usually done around this time. So I know it\u2019s a challenge for them, just with their bodies and everything and keeping up with the wear and tear and having to play through some of the soreness and the injuries and things like that. But I\u2019ve been real impressed with them. They helped us a ton and they\u2019re going to be good Niners here going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether due to luck, injury, or good old-fashioned hard work, Punk and Mustapha have become players for the 49ers and look like they could hold ont0 important spots on the team long-term. But will they be able to maintain their play down the stretch? Or will they hit the proverbial \u201crookie wall?\u201d Well, Shanahan commented on that, too, and his answer may surprise you.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"San
Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kyle Shanahan tries to prepare new 49ers for the \u201crookie wall\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Discussing the challenges of rookies going from college to the pros and the much longer season that accompanies it, Shanahan admitted that he does believe in the \u201crookie wall\u201d but tries to prepare them for it so things don’t fall too far off the tracks.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can tell, you can try to tell everybody everything, but usually people don\u2019t believe you until it happens. So you just try to tell people how it\u2019s coming, that it usually happens, just with experience of being around it. You try to tell them that throughout the year, so they don\u2019t really, they kind of set up their routine at the beginning of Week 1 a little bit in training camp. And you try to never differentiate from that routine,\u201d Shanahan noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes rookies, they get to Week 4 and it\u2019s not that big of a deal, they don\u2019t have to go through their routine. But once they get to around now they\u2019re, now they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, now I get what you\u2019re talking about. I should have kept with that routine.\u2019 So we pick up on that stuff or talk about it all year to prepare them for this moment. But it still does hit them. And you just talk about the reality of it. It is going to hit you, you do feel that way, but that\u2019s why you\u2019ve got to make conscious decisions and understand it is normal. But it\u2019s stuff you\u2019ve got to fight through because too many people are depending on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sitting in last place in the NFC West but with a legitimate chance to make it to the postseason if they do well down the stretch one way or another, the 49ers really can’t afford to be at anything but their best in December, which is tricky, considering they have over a half-dozen players on IR. If their rookies can play through the proverbial wall, it can only lead to good results.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kyle Shannahan is still proud of how these 49ers rookies have played so far. While the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers’ 2024 NFL season hasn’t gone as planned, one of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nKyle Shanahan shouts out 2 SF rookies for stepping up in 2024 - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=9858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kyle Shanahan shouts out 2 SF rookies for stepping up in 2024 - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kyle Shannahan is still proud of how these 49ers rookies have played so far. 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