Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
It's pretty clear who will be the starting wideouts for the San Francisco 49ers.
Brandon Aiyuk and
Deebo Samuel currently sit atop the depth chart. Fans are curious who will be the team's third receiver. It turns out, head coach Kyle Shanahan is curious too and is hoping someone steps up during training camp.
Following a couple of injuries on Monday, San Francisco canceled the remainder of its offseason program, including next week's minicamp. Players won't return to the practice field until training camp at the end of July. That's when the real competition at wide receiver begins.
"I think we've got a number of candidates who can earn that spot you're talking about," Shanahan told reporters this afternoon when asked about the receiver depth. "We're looking for the obvious third spot, with what you say about Aiyuk and Deebo. But those guys, they've got to put in a good camp and get through it healthy, so we can get them up to play up to their potential. That's mainly allowing them to get a month of practice in, which would be great for them in training camp. And if they get that, I know how good they'll be going into the season."
Samuel missed nine games last season. Aiyuk missed four. Kendrick Bourne has served as a primary backup in recent years but signed with the New England Patriots as a free agent this offseason.
"After [Aiyuk and Samuel], I've been happy with our group out there," Shanahan continued. "A number of guys have a chance to try to earn that third role, and we need a number of guys to make the roster to be ready for starting roles, in case people get hurt. It's not to where you can just pencil in those guys."
Shanahan rattled off the names of several candidates, like Richie James, who has been sidelined due to an injury. However, he is expected to be back by training camp.
"Right before he got hurt, tweaked something, I thought he was having a hell of a camp," Shanahan said. "So, I'm excited to see him come back, and some of the guys that people haven't seen yet with
Jauan Jennings, who was on our practice squad last year. A guy like Mohamed Sanu, who's done a lot of things in his career. He's been having a hell of a camp. Travis (Benjamin) has been having a hell of a camp. Kevin White's been doing great.
"I know I'm missing people, but there's not a guy on our roster at receiver that doesn't have a chance to make this team. All of them, I believe, are NFL players, and [we gave all of] them a chance in OTAs to show us that. We'll see what they do in their 40 days away, and it will be a fun competition to watch. If everyone stays healthy, it's going to be a battle. It's a good problem to have, though."
The 49ers could have increased their depth with the addition of wide receiver Julio Jones. San Francisco was thought to be interested in the future Hall of Famer. A report this week from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated stated that the Atlanta Falcons spoke with the 49ers, along with every other NFC West team. However, San Francisco never presented a real offer for Jones.
The Falcons ended up trading Jones to the Tennessee Titans. Why weren't the 49ers more aggressive in pursuing him? Maybe things would have been different had the team not surrendered future first-round picks to trade up in this year's draft for quarterback Trey Lance.
"Everyone knows the player [Jones] is, but it's not as simple as that," Shanahan explained. "You've got to build a team. It's not just year to year. You've got to build it for the future. And you just think about how hard it is going into drafts. You never know what you're going to be able to do in free agency, who you're going to lose, who you're going to be able to bring in. You've got lots of guys on one-year contracts, things like that.
"Everyone knows we don't have a first-round pick. But what happens when you don't have a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick, and you lose a number of guys in free agency, which you never can for sure count on? Then you end up going into a draft, and you've got to get six new spots, but all you have is a third- and a fifth-round pick. It's kind of tough to build your team that way and to consistently do it.
"But he's a hell of a player. He's going to definitely help Tennessee. And everyone knows how special he is, but you've got to think about the short-term and the long-term, and that's why those things are so risky for everybody."
Related News
On Wednesday, Chat Sports contributor Chase Senior reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers were "aggressively pursuing" San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. He further stated that the Steelers are confident they can finalize a deal for the star player.
REPORTS: The Pittsburgh Steelers are aggressively pursuing a Brandon Aiyuk trade and the Steelers would be "surprised" if they don't land Aiyuk. Of note: Pittsburgh has the 20th overall pick. The Niners could look at that as equal value for Aiyuk if they can't get a deal done.…
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel will be wearing No. 1 the next time he steps onto the football field, leaving behind his No. 19 jersey. It's an unfortunate change for any fan who previously invested in a Deebo jersey—unless they consider it a throwback.
Newly signed wide receiver Trent Taylor quickly claimed No. 19 after rejoining the team on a one-year deal following three seasons elsewhere. Taylor last wore No. 15 with the 49ers, a number currently worn by wide receiver Jauan Jennings. Taylor also wore No. 81 with the team.
The 49ers' official team site has listed the jersey numbers for several of the team's free-agent newcomers (and Maliek Collins, acquired via a
With only nine days remaining until the start of the 2024 NFL Draft, Good Morning Football's Peter Schrager revealed his first mock draft of the year. While most might expect the San Francisco 49ers to target an offensive lineman, Schrager has the team bolstering its wide receiver corps with an SEC talent.
Schrager has the 49ers using the No. 31 overall pick to select former Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey, whose 2023 campaign with the Bulldogs was limited by back and ankle injuries.
"McConkey in the first round? Yes," Schrager wrote. "Above guys like Troy Franklin and Keon Coleman? Perhaps. I've spoken to a
We are less than one week away from the NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers have their first day-one draft pick since 2021. That was the year they selected QB Trey Lance number three overall. The trade-up to get Lance cost the 49ers their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023. And now that they are back in the first round, at pick 31, fans are anxious to see what the team does with the pick. And with former assistant GM, Adam Peters, now in Washington, it will be interesting to see how well the 49ers draft without Peters in the room.
We looked back at the seven drafts GM John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan have led to see what information we could pull from those drafts. There were plenty of hits, plenty of misses, and a few surprises along the way. The draft picks are
