San Francisco 49ers: Second-year players set to shine in 2018

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 24: Ahkello Witherspoon #23 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after breaking up a pass to Dede Westbrook #12 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during their NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on December 24, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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The San Francisco 49ers fanbase and organization has big expectations for these second-year players for the 2018 season.

After bringing in a phenomenal rookie class in 2017, the San Francisco 49ers are looking to see if this will translate to this upcoming season. The future of the organization not only led the league in rookie playing time, but also garners a significant amount of acclaim. In a period that seemed as if a rebuild would take longer to fix, this group has the team in talks to become a playoff contender already.

Some of them still have a way to go before they are given the same label as one of the best rookie classes in recent memory. A few of them are almost finished with their development and are near meeting their potential.

Five players from last year’s class will be on this list as players that will either improve their play or continue to be more involved this upcoming season.

Notable Omissions: Reuben Foster and Adrian Colbert. These two aren’t going to take a step back, but it will be a tough task for them to recreate the same impact that they had in their rookie year. Plus, Colbert still needs to beat Jimmie Ward for the starting free safety job. As for Foster, he needs to serve a two-game suspension that will (slightly) halt his production.