San Francisco 49ers stock up, stock down

NFL training camps are a little more than two months away, a perfect time to take stock of each team's trending players going into the season. This is stock up and stock down for the San Francisco 49ers. 

Stock Up

Nick Bosa, edge rusher. Bosa, the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, keeps getting better and more disruptive. He is in line for a monster contract extension that should make him the highest-paid edge rusher ever. 

After recording 18.5 sacks in 2022 in only 16 games, he could push the 20 mark this season and perhaps even chase the all-time season record held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt (22.5). 

Javon Hargrave, defensive line. The 49ers added to an already dominant defensive front by signing free agent Hargrave, a former standout with the Eagles. He was one of the top players on the open market and joins a defense that should go from great to downright terrifying with him in the middle of it. 

Hargrave's sack total has increased in each of the past four seasons, reaching 11 in 2022, and now he is going to a defense that already has impact players all over. It should be a matchup nightmare for offenses and could lead to an even bigger year for Hargrave. 

Stock Down

Trey Lance, quarterback. This is not how the 49ers expected the Lance experience to be going in year three. After trading multiple first-round picks to secure his pick at the top of the 2021 draft, Lance is entering year three in a battle with Sam Darnold to simply be the backup to Brock Purdy, a player with 10 games of NFL experience who was picked with the last selection of the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Injuries have been one of the biggest obstacles for Lance in his career, but the fact he is not even a lock to start in this situation is a troubling sign of what his future might be with the team. 

Deebo Samuel, wide receiver. During the 2021 season, Samuel emerged as a unique playmaker, disrupting games as a receiver and runner and accumulating nearly 1,800 yards from scrimmage. He led the league in yards per catch, averaged over six yards per carry and scored 14 touchdowns.

Things did not go  as well for him during the 2022 season. He missed four games, and even when he was on the field, his overall production and effectiveness significantly dropped as a receiver and runner. He lost seven yards per catch (going from 18.2 to 11.3), nearly a full yard per carry (6.2 yards down to 5.5) and scored only five touchdowns. Just a blip on the radar due to injuries? Or did defenses figure out his game? The 2023 season might tell us a lot about that.