49ers finally activate WR DeAndre Smelter from the practice squad

The San Francisco 49ers have activated WR DeAndre Smelter from the team's practice squad, per his agents.

Smelter was a fourth-round selection out of Georgia Tech in 2015. In 2014, he had 35 receptions for 715 yards and seven touchdowns through 10 games at Georgia Tech. That's an impressive average of over 20 yards-per-catch. Smelter's 11-inch hands were the largest of his draft class and he was thought to have the size to be a physical threat at receiver for the team.

Smelter spent his rookie season on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list and was waived by the 49ers on September 3. He was signed to the practice squad on October 18, where he has been since.

"Obviously, even through OTAs he seemed to have something," Kelly said back in October. "So, it was you'd have him for a couple days and then he'd be out for a couple days or not 100-percent for a couple of days. So, the biggest thing with DeAndre is are we going to get a healthy DeAndre and that's what we're looking for."

Kelly indicated that the injury that made him miss so much time before he was released in September was a hamstring injury. However, the injury was not tied to the torn ACL that he suffered in college. "I don't know how the hamstring happened, but the injury itself was a hamstring. It had nothing, there was no knee issue and it was a pretty, whatever the grades are, grade two or grade three, it was a legitimate torn hamstring. It wasn't one of those – you know – he's out for a week or two as an extensive, obviously, just look at when we released him, waived him injured and then brought him back, I know it was a pretty severe hamstring injury."

On Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, the 49ers lost starting wide receiver Quinton Patton for the season. Torrey Smith, the team's other starting receiver, suffered a concussion the week prior against the New York Jets. Patton was just one of three players that suffered season-ending injuries against the Falcons.