San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Solomon Thomas during the NFL team’s football training camp Friday, July 28, 2017, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Jeremy Harness

 The 49ers are not expected to compete for a playoff spot this year, but this could be a very exciting year for the team, particularly to see what the young guys can do.

 If you can recall, the last time they were in this kind of situation was in 2000, when they were coming off a debilitating 4-12 season and badly needed to retool their defense. After selecting a pair of cornerbacks in the draft that year, the 49ers rebounded with a 6-10 campaign before advancing to the postseason the following season.

 This could very well be a year of growth for the team as a whole, and it will certainly be that for the rookies, particularly defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and linebacker Reuben Foster, both of whom the team selected in the first round of this year’s draft.

 Thomas has been getting reps with the first and second teams, but has been getting most of his work with the second unit, ad according to reports, he has started to make his mark.

 Foster, meanwhile, will likely be counted on a little sooner than anticipated. Last Saturday, it was determined that newly-signed linebacker Malcolm Smith will miss the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle that he suffered days before.

 What that means is that Foster got himself a lot more playing time. In the meantime, Foster has been getting reps with the second team as well as the first unit and has frequently been making big plays.

 After not having a single interception in his time at Alabama, he already has two picks in the two weeks of training camp with the 49ers, and now that the shoulder issues that plagued him prior to the draft appears to be a thing of the past, great things are being expected of him.

 They will both get their first chance to show what they can do against another NFL team, as the 49ers travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs on Friday.