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John Lynch on wide receivers in the draft: ‘There’s a lot of depth at that position’
Apr 22, 2019 at 4:15 PM
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Wide receiver is just one of the position groups the San Francisco 49ers hope to improve via the draft. The team is not expected to use the No. 2 overall pick to add a receiver but could use a later selection to do so.
Not counting local prospects, six known receivers have reportedly traveled to Santa Clara for pre-draft visits with the 49ers. They are A.J. Brown of Mississippi, Hakeem Butler of Iowa State, N'Keal Harry of Arizona State, Jalen Hurd of Baylor,
Deebo Samuel of South Carolina, and Preston Williams of Colorado State.
And those are just the ones we know about. General manager John Lynch spoke with reporters on Monday during his annual pre-draft presser and indicated that the number is higher but did not give specifics.
"We had the 30-visit where we brought in a lot, but I don't know what the exact number was," Lynch said.
What does the high number of receivers visiting the 49ers say about the incoming crop of rookies?
"I think it says that there's a lot of depth at that position," Lynch responded. "There's a lot of guys who we like, and there's different reasons we bring guys in. Just like any position, that may be a spot where we try to improve our team. Fortunately, in this year's draft, it seems to be a good stable of guys who can help."
No 49ers wide receiver surpassed 500 receiving yards last season. The group was led by Kendrick Bourne, who had 487, and then-rookie Dante Pettis, who had 467.
While Pettis, a second-round pick out of Washington last year, did miss time due to injury, he started each of the 49ers' final six games of the season. His best performance came during a Week 13 road loss in Seattle when he recorded five receptions for 129 yards with two touchdowns on seven targets.
Earlier this month, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report said he believes the
49ers are eyeing two players with their No. 36 overall pick — Harry and Samuel.
"I will say, man, sometimes I don't tell you guys everything I hear because I've got to keep some stuff back to myself," Miller said during his podcast. "I've heard if N'Keal Harry's gone, Deebo's their guy at 36."
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