Why the 49ers Never Played Rookie Jordan Watkins

"When you get hurt right away in training camp and you miss a whole training camp it's a huge window for guys who aren't quite ready yet," Shanahan said at his exit press conference. "That was their chance to get ready. And then when you come back, where are you when you come back? If it's off a high ankle sprain, how's your conditioning now?

"Alright, now it takes you three weeks just to get your conditioning back to where you can start to have a chance to improve. And when that happens, you have a setback, which he did. And so, you kind of miss that window where you had a chance to gain on people. And then where you sit in Week 12, Week 13 behind a group of guys that are more consistent at this time in their career than you are. And then it just, it becomes unfortunate for those guys.

Rising the depth chart as a rookie, especially a non-first-round pick, on the 49ers is extremely difficult. Shanahan needs his rookies active and present.

You can say the same about Jordan James. His stock was rising when training camp commenced. He even started stealing work from Isaac Guerendo in practice.

Then, an injury knocked off his momentum, and he was never able to recover it. The margins for carving out a role on the 49ers as a rookie are insanely slim.

If you don't sustain a good bill of health and continue to play at a high-level, then Shanahan will not roll the dice on a rookie unless he's forced. Watkins will need to hope his injury luck favors him next year.

Otherwise, he will be an afterthought to Shanahan and a wasted pick by the 49ers.

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