San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dante Pettis showed flashes during his inaugural NFL season. Despite dealing with a knee injury for much of the season, he still caught 27 passes for 467 yards with five touchdowns through 12 games and seven starts.
The 23-year-old receiver is headed into his second NFL season, and the expectations for the 2018 second-round draft pick will be higher. Head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and discussed Pettis.
"I have big expectations for Dante," Shanahan told reporters. "We did before we drafted him. We had it throughout this year, and we expect him to continue to get better. I think he went through the normal rookie-type ups and downs that a lot of them do as receivers.
"He came in strong in training camp, got a little banged up but was healthy enough for Week 1; did well Week 2. I think he had a touchdown in Week 1. Week [4], he got an injury that kind of set him back. He didn't get right until about Week 12. Then he finished the year very strong. He finished the year up probably as our best guy.
"I expect him to come in next year and be even better. He's a guy who can play all three of the positions. He's also a good returner, and we're very excited that we have Dante."