Some tough choices will need to be made when the San Francisco 49ers cut their roster down to 53 players. One group that will be particularly difficult to reduce is the wide receivers. Behind starters Marquise Goodwin, Pierre Garçon, and even second-year receiver Trent Taylor and rookie Dante Pettis, is a lot of NFL-quality talent.
General manager John Lynch joined KNBR this week to discuss the receivers who are battling for the backend of the position group. He feels that all receivers are better in training camp than they were during OTAs or even minicamps.
"There's going to be tremendous competition," Lynch said. "They're all pushing each other."
Four specific receivers who Lynch discussed were Victor Bolden, Kendrick Bourne, Richie James, and Steven Dunbar. None of those players have more than a year of NFL experience.
"Vic Bolden is a guy who's made tremendous strides from year one to year two," Lynch said. "He's got that speed. Now, he's figuring out how to utilize it. Kendrick Bourne, he's got that ability to separate that we covet. But then he's also got an ability to catch the ball and get vertical right away.
"Richie James just keeps making plays in camp. If you're looking for a philosophy, a way to stand out, just keep making plays each and every day. He continues to do that. Dunbar offers size that we don't have on our receiving core but [he] still has the ability to get open.
"All those guys bring something to the table. It's going to make for some very tough decisions for us, but that's a good thing."
Lynch believes the talent at wide receiver in combination with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's quick release is going to benefit each player's yards gained after the catch.
"We saw a huge uptick on our yards after catch when Jimmy got in there (last year), and I think we'll see that carry over, so we're excited about that," Lynch added.
