Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu is entering his 10th NFL season and hopes to climb the San Francisco 49ers depth chart during training camp, which kicks off this week.
Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel figure to be the starters come Week 1. The spots behind them are up for grabs. Sanu's experience may give him an edge, though, when it comes to the No. 3 job. The veteran wideout is already familiar with the offense. He played for head coach Kyle Shanahan, then an offensive coordinator, for a season in Atlanta. That helps.
Sanu was briefly with San Francisco last year, appearing in three games but hauling in only one catch for nine yards. He spent the remainder of the season with the Detroit Lions before rejoining the 49ers at the end of March.
Sanu says he feels like he's in the best shape of his life and is excited about the opportunity to prove that to be true. The wide receiver joined the DNP-CD Sports Podcast last week and was asked how he feels as he prepares to compete.
"I would say this is the best that I've felt physically, I've ever felt in my entire life," Sanu said. "I'm not just saying that because that's what everybody says. It's because it's true. I've put in a lot of work, diligent work, to make sure my body, my mind, everything's focused and one."
49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel praised Sanu's performance during the team's offseason program.
"You can tell that he doesn't expect anything to be given to him, and he's trying to earn his spot on this team," McDaniel said in June. "So it was very exciting to see him perform. He was doing very well. And, if he comes back to training camp in that same shape, he's going to be a guy that is going to be tough to beat out for that final 53 (man) roster."
Sanu, 31, has caught 420 passes for 4,694 yards with 27 touchdowns through his nine NFL seasons. He has been working hard during the past month "off" and hopes it pays off starting next week.
"I've been doing a lot of mental training, physical training, just having my focus being even more focused, if that makes sense," Sanu said. "Being more diligent in everything that I do. Being intentional with how I do things. It's been strong."