49ers’ rookies look to put on a show in preseason game against Saints

SANTA CLARA — Kyle Shanahan is so exasperated at the performance of his rookies in recent years that he junked a scheduled walkthrough before the New Orleans game so they could practice on their own.

Yes, the annual rookie show performed before veterans and the coaching staff has been that bad.

“We’re cancelling the walkthrough to allow them to practice and making the threat that if it’s not good enough they’ll do it Monday and Tuesday also,” Shanahan said Friday. “We’ll see how it works.”

In 2022, Brock Purdy, a third-string quarterback and the last player taken in the NFL Draft, was part of the rookie show disappointment. Purdy said rookies did impersonations of veterans — he was Jauan Jennings — and did it in the form of a spelling bee.

“The concept and idea was good, but the execution was not,” Purdy said. “We got booed off. Not a good memory for me.”

Neither Shanahan nor Purdy was being serious of course. And even if the 49ers’ eight-man draft class of 2024 plays to poor reviews in the rookie show, their play on the field suggests at the least there will be some impactful roles played by rookies and perhaps as early as Week 1.

More experience awaits Sunday when the 49ers host the New Orleans Saints (5 p.m.) at Levi’s Stadium in the second of three preseason games.

General manager John Lynch, perhaps relieved to be off the topic of the hold-in of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and the holdout of tackle Trent Williams, was in full rave mode during the first of his weekly appearances on 49ers’ flagship KNBR.

Dominick Puni, a third-round pick out of Kansas, has been the starter at right guard since the first practice with returnees Spencer Burford (hand) and Jon Feliciano (knee) sidelined with injuries.

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