The San Francisco 49ers continued their preseason slate at Levi’s® Stadium on Saturday, welcoming in the Denver Broncos for an evening matchup. Despite trailing most of the way, the red and gold battled back in the fourth quarter with Trey Lance under center to secure the 21-20 win in front of the Faithful. Lance led three-straight scoring drives and rookie kicker Jake Moody sunk the game-winning field goal as time expired to get the team to .500 heading into their final preseason game.
While the talk of Saturday was the 2023 preseason debut of many of San Francisco’s projected starters, it was the rookies who came up big against the Broncos. Every point scored against Denver was netted by a first-year player. The list of rookie points scorers included Moody, fullback Jack Colletto and tight end Cameron Latu.
Among the standouts of the 49ers second preseason game are wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings and linebacker Dee Winters, who all recorded top marks in Pro Football Focus’ weekly grades.
Here’s the breakdown of this week’s preseason playmakers:
Top Offensive Performers: Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings
Both Samuel and Jennings participated in a limited capacity against the Broncos, combining for a total of 21 snaps. Samuel was on the field for the 49ers first offensive series and came away with an 85.7 overall grade, the top offensive mark for San Francisco. In his seven snaps of work, Samuel caught two passes for 39 yards headlined by a 25-yard catch-and-run on the first play of the game.
Jennings earned an 81.7 overall grade for his performance on Saturday, catching one pass for an 11-yard gain. What the stats don’t reflect is Jennings’ most impressive play of the day. The fourth-year pro had a would-be 21-yard catch from quarterback Sam Darnold called back due to a penalty in the second quarter of Saturday’s game.
Top Defensive Performer: LB Dee Winters
The rookie linebacker was the highest was the highest graded performer on the other side of the ball, walking away with a 93.0 overall grade for his 14 snaps of work. Winters’ playing time included five snaps in run defense and nine in coverage, and his stat line for his second NFL outing boasted a tackle, assist, defensive stop and forced fumble.
