There is no shortage of star power on the San Francisco 49ers roster. It's a team that features playmakers at nearly every position. On offense, you have wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. There's tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey too.
There is no doubt that rookie quarterback Brock Purdy was the team's offensive breakout star in 2022. But what about next season? Who is the under-the-radar player who could surprise some people in 2023?
"I'm really looking forward to seeing [RB] Ty Davis-Price," Samuel told Matthew Berry and Jay Croucher on NBC's Fantasy Football Happy Hour, "how he approaches the offseason, how he's going to approach this coming year with not having much time on the field this year."
San Francisco made Davis-Price a third-round draft pick out of LSU last year. He carried the football only 34 times for 99 rushing yards through his limited playing time in six game appearances. The 49ers expected to use the rookie running back more this season, but an injury changed things.
"There was a great chance after Week 2 in the Seattle game that he was going to start or at least finish the game with the bulk of the carries versus Denver, and he got a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 in the second quarter," head coach Kyle Shanahan said in December.
Davis-Price was inactive for the next three games, returning in Week 6.
"When Ty came back is when Elijah [Mitchell] was healthy, and he wasn't getting those over Elijah," Shanahan continued. "Then we had Christian [McCaffrey] and Elijah. J.P. [Mason] had already made his role as the third guy for special teams, and that wasn't going to change. Then when Elijah got hurt, Ty got an opportunity to get up, but he was behind J.P. at that moment, so he missed his opportunity because of the injury."
Samuel is excited to see if Davis-Price gets another opportunity to prove himself in 2023.
"I mean, the team has high expectations for him," Samuel said. "We drafted him in the third round, so I'm just ready to see how he comes back from this year."
