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49ers Rookie Expectations: Enrique Cruz

Originally posted on San Francisco 49ers on SI
By Parker Hurley | Last updated May 14, 2026 6:00 PM ET

The San Francisco 49ers have moved past the draft and are now preparing the rookie class for their first season in the NFL. With that in mind, it is smart to put together some realistic expectations for the rookie class. What is expected from rookie tackle Enrique Cruz in year one?

Rookie expectations for San Francisco 49ers tackle Enrique Cruz

To get a baseline of expectations the sample will include all offensive tackles drafted after the 150th pick in the NFL draft after 2012. This gives us a good range of players that includes Cruz, who fell to this spot. There were 92 tackles drafted over this time. Of them, they averaged 196 snaps and three starts in their rookie season.

This sample is dragged down by some big misses, though. There are plenty of hits in this range, so when you dial down to players who long careers and started over the course of their career it could dial in on better expectations for Cruz.

When narrowing down the list it gets to 36 players, which includes Braxton Jones, Kelvin Beachum, Colton McKivitz, Trent Brown, Warren McClendon, Cole Van Lanen, all current starters or players who started last season.

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This sample played a little more during their rookie season with 349 snaps played and five games started. Still, while the majority of the hits saw the field at some point during their rookie season, there are cases of players who did not see the field.

Rasheed Walker, and Cole Van Lanen played under two snaps as rookies while Warren McClendon and Charles Leno were under 50 snaps as rookies. Only 12 players played over 50% of the teams offensive snaps, and not every player in that range turned into a long term starter, either. So, if Cruz sits his entire year it is not a complete sign that he will not become anything, although it does have him on the lower end of the spectrum.

The big question is how the depth will shake out between Vedrian Lowe, Austen Pleasants, and Cruz. Cruz should be able to beat out Pleasants during his rookie season, but Lowe is a former starter. He is not good enough to start, but is a quality depth option. It will be tough for Cruz to beat him out during his rookie season, so expectations are probably going to be on the moderate to low end for Cruz.

This article first appeared on San Francisco 49ers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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