WR Dante "Do something...anything" Pettis

Originally posted by NCommand:

Live look-in on El Gato working on his release. Keep grinding kid.

practicing his boxing skills 🥊 pic.twitter.com/uEg02uuHed

— 𝕽𝖊𝖓.🕊️ (@eliterenno) August 10, 2019

This might be Pettis tryna get off the line with CTE. Too many hits in the slot lol

Originally posted by swaccmac1:
by the time this year is over, 17 , 18, and 19 will be the talk of the league.... mark my words !!! Go niners

Originally posted by Joecool:

I totally agree with how Kyle feels. There's nothing physically wrong with Pettis. He just doesn't have that "switch". That attitude switch that takes you to another mental and physical level. If he does, he hasn't showed it.

Yeah, I don't think you'll ever see Pettis get in a fight on the field. I just don't think he has that personality. Some people have a gentle personality outside of the game but great intensity within it. I think Pettis' personality of mellow and light-hearted fun permeates all he does. I don't doubt Pettis wants to succeed though. I also don't doubt he's through the roof talented. Like I said earlier, I just think the coaches are trying to get him outside his comfort zone.

I think my only issue might be that I'm not so sure I see "aggression" as a true skill you try to teach as opposed to being a natural trait. I understand the concept of working back to the ball, fighting for contested catches, and running through tackles instead of around them. But I'm not sure I want to see Pettis lowering his head trying to truck a safety and fighting for meaningless yards instead of going out of bounds. While playing aggressive in some situations may actually help prevent injury, in other cases, I think for a player like Pettis you're asking him to do things that will only increase his chance of getting hurt.

Originally posted by genus49:

I think you need to come to grips with the fact that not all people think the same. Different personalities respond to different things. Pettis is really laid back and clearly isn't your typical football player. They think he's better off being pushed like this.

Other guys don't need the extra push because they push themselves. You may not like it, I may not like it...but it's the way it is. Unfortunately not every talented WR can be Jerry Rice when it comes to drive and dedication to the game.

100% agree with this. I've noted this from day 1. New generation. New mindset. New perspectives. At some point, one way or another, he's either going to self-drive to be the best or the support/push will wane and everyone will just accept it as is and move on. I still think he's going to be a really good player.

Originally posted by genus49:

I think you need to come to grips with the fact that not all people think the same. Different personalities respond to different things. Pettis is really laid back and clearly isn't your typical football player. They think he's better off being pushed like this.

Other guys don't need the extra push because they push themselves. You may not like it, I may not like it...but it's the way it is. Unfortunately not every talented WR can be Jerry Rice when it comes to drive and dedication to the game.

Well said.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by genus49:

I think you need to come to grips with the fact that not all people think the same. Different personalities respond to different things. Pettis is really laid back and clearly isn't your typical football player. They think he's better off being pushed like this.

Other guys don't need the extra push because they push themselves. You may not like it, I may not like it...but it's the way it is. Unfortunately not every talented WR can be Jerry Rice when it comes to drive and dedication to the game.

100% agree with this. I've noted this from day 1. New generation. New mindset. New perspectives. At some point, one way or another, he's either going to self-drive to be the best or the support/push will wane and everyone will just accept it as is and move on. I still think he's going to be a really good player.

Well-stated. This is it in a nutshell.

He does seem to be kind of laid back but his talent is also visible. Not saying he will ever be this good but I look at Larry Fitzgerald and I see the same type of player. Not flashy and not super aggressive but he just makes plays in a quiet way. If he could be half as good as Larry I'd be happy.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

He does seem to be kind of laid back but his talent is also visible. Not saying he will ever be this good but I look at Larry Fitzgerald and I see the same type of player. Not flashy and not super aggressive but he just makes plays in a quiet way. If he could be half as good as Larry I'd be happy.

Larry is one of the most driven and competitive players in NFL history. I get what you were saying around play style though.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Well-stated. This is it in a nutshell.

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by KittleSkittle:

From Barrows' Mailbag:

Linda asks via Twitter: Do you think Dante Pettis has regressed? And if so, why? I remember last camp we were hearing every day how he was getting open against almost everybody he faced. This year, haven't been hearing the same from practice reports.

No, Pettis definitely hasn't regressed. In fact, he's better than he was last year at this time because he knows the system so much better. But Kyle Shanahan clearly wants him to make a more significant leap forward. All of the coach's comments in recent weeks in which he attempts to a light a fire beneath the receiver group appear to point to one in particular: Pettis.

That's not a slam against him. Shanahan feels Pettis is talented enough to be a great receiver and wants to put pressure on him to reach that status. That's also why Richard Sherman pushes Pettis in practice.

"I know what he's capable of," Sherman said. "If he wasn't capable of being incredibly successful and being a great player — a No. 1 receiver — in this league, then who am I to try to pull something impossible out of him? But he's definitely capable. He's beyond capable. He's incredibly talented."

As of now, the 49ers have two receivers who play with an element of — there's no great word for it — ferocity. They are Trent Taylor and Jalen Hurd. (Deebo Samuel might have it, too.) I think the team would love to see that trait show up more often in Pettis' game. He runs fantastic routes and has an ability to shake defenders that no other 49ers receiver has. But he hasn't separated himself from the other receivers so far this summer.

Even before the 49ers discovered Taylor's foot injury, the 49ers planned to sit him and Marquise Goodwin in last Saturday's preseason opener because the team knows exactly what they have in them. Pettis, however, was one of the few high-status players who played. Why?

The 49ers are trying to guard against the sophomore slump that hit Ahkello Witherspoon and Adrian Colbert at the start of last season. Those players were virtually handed starting roles because there wasn't much competition in training camp. The team doesn't want Pettis to get too content, too comfortable.

"I wanted him to compete," Shanahan said. "We're trying to see who our starting receivers are and I wanted to get him a chance to get out there. … Dante has a lot of room to grow. He can still get a lot better. So can a lot of the other guys.

The real reason Shanahan is being so hard on Pettis is that he knows that Pettis is the only WR that we have that is actually worth a damn. The only way this offense becomes a top 5-10 offense this year is if Pettis reaches his potential. No other WR on the team can do what he can do. The other WRs are either too raw, inept, or too limited or are only situationally useful.

This seems wildly dismissive of our two rookies, worth a damn? Really?

The rookies will get a chance to prove their worth in the regular season. I'm not expecting much from them this year though. It's a hard offense for a rookie to learn.

More on the topic...you know I post everything. It also explains why Pettis was now running at Z and Deebo at X...Hurd at Z too. If that doesn't motivate you, nothing will.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Joecool:
I totally agree with how Kyle feels. There's nothing physically wrong with Pettis. He just doesn't have that "switch". That attitude switch that takes you to another mental and physical level. If he does, he hasn't showed it.

Yeah, I don't think you'll ever see Pettis get in a fight on the field. I just don't think he has that personality. Some people have a gentle personality outside of the game but great intensity within it. I think Pettis' personality of mellow and light-hearted fun permeates all he does. I don't doubt Pettis wants to succeed though. I also don't doubt he's through the roof talented. Like I said earlier, I just think the coaches are trying to get him outside his comfort zone.

I think my only issue might be that I'm not so sure I see "aggression" as a true skill you try to teach as opposed to being a natural trait. I understand the concept of working back to the ball, fighting for contested catches, and running through tackles instead of around them. But I'm not sure I want to see Pettis lowering his head trying to truck a safety and fighting for meaningless yards instead of going out of bounds. While playing aggressive in some situations may actually help prevent injury, in other cases, I think for a player like Pettis you're asking him to do things that will only increase his chance of getting hurt.

Oh I'm not talking about scrapping it up with an opponent. You don't need to put your head down and truck to have a switch. Fitzgerald comparison came up but Fitzgerald fights hard for a ball in the air without scrapping. You can see his determination to go after that ball with two guys wrapped around him. I haven't seen that from Pettis yet. His style is to rely on moves to avoid contact to get open or allow a ball to get knocked out of his grasp when the contact does come.

Haven't seen the "That's my f**ken ball!" desire from him yet. Let's hope we see aggressive catching this year by him. Haven't seen it yet so I'm afraid we won't see it, but it's only been one year. I give any player 2 to 3 years. That's about the time needed to know what you have and don't have in a player.

Originally posted by sacniner:
This is very appropriate for Pettis:

In honor of @GamecockFB playing Coastal Carolina this week, one of the greatest press conference moments in football history from former Chanticleers head coach David Bennett (via @wpdeabc15) pic.twitter.com/QokzIUNjFa

— Mike Uva (@Mike_Uva) August 28, 2018

seems like even Shanahan is getting annoyed at his finesse at this point. Well, I hope Pettis is taking notes from Deebo and Hurd. Gotta be more physical and fight for the football.