One of the lesser publicized storylines of the San Francisco 49ers' training camp practices has the emergence of
WR DeAndre Smelter. The team's second-year receiver was limited with a hamstring injury during mandatory minicamp in June, but has been "full go" during training camp as he looks to assert himself as a legitimate receiving threat.
"DeAndre Smelter caught a pass on a wide receiver screen to the left side and showed nice burst after the catch,"
said Joe Fann of
49ers Media on Monday. "
[Garrett] Celek did well to seal off the sideline while
Joe Staley pulled to lead the first-year receiver up-field."
Grant Cohn of the
Press Democrat said that Smelter played split-end and made three catches during drills on Monday. "First, he beat
Jimmie Ward with a quick slant," said Cohn. "Then, he beat
Kenneth Acker with a quick slant. And then he caught a tunnel screen pass thrown by
Colin Kaepernick. By the end of practice, Smelter was playing with the starters. He seems to be
Quinton Patton's primary competition for the starting split-end job."
"[Smelter] looked to be full go on Sunday and came up with a catch from
Thad Lewis,"
reported Matt Barrows of the
Sacramento Bee following Sunday's practice. "At 220-plus pounds, Smelter is by far the most powerful receiver on the squad and he looks it when he's on the field."
The 49ers wide receivers group
recently ranked second-to-last by
Pro Football Focus. The emergence of someone like Smelter could do a lot to bolster what could be a young but underrated group.
There was some speculation if Smelter would even emerge from deep within the 49ers' depth chart. Most figured that the competition for the wide receiver spot across from
Torrey Smith would come down to Patton,
Bruce Ellington, and perhaps former CFL hopeful
Eric Rogers. If Smelter is starting to make some noise during practices, it could be a huge benefit for the 49ers offense – even if he does not end up at the X-spot.
After spending his rookie season recovering from surgery to repair his torn ACL, Smelter was an unknown commodity for the 49ers. Early on, he drew comparisons to
Anquan Boldin, who is now with the Detroit Lions. Smelter's 11-inch hands were the largest of his draft class and he has the size to be a physical threat at receiver for the team. He was a fourth round selection out of Georgia Tech in 2015.
In 2014, he had 35 receptions for 715 yards and seven touchdowns through 10 games at Georgia Tech. That's an average of over 20 yards-per-catch.
With the 2024 NFL Draft less than a week away, it's common for the rumor mill to start churning, especially with players who are actively seeking a new contract. It was just two short years ago that WR Deebo Samuel requested a trade from the San Francisco 49ers prior to draft day, only for cooler heads to prevail and eventually agree to a new deal.
Now, it's WR Brandon Aiyuk's turn to try and get paid and rumors surfaced over the weekend that he too would request to be dealt. While that report was quickly shot down by his agent, there's still a lot of discussion about Aiyuk's future and if other teams will come calling on draft night.
Legendary columnist Mike Silver joined
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
The San Francisco 49ers are hosting several draft prospects this week as the deadline for pre-draft visits draws near. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the team will host former Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley on Wednesday.
Corley is expected to be a Day 2 pick. San Francisco owns two selections on Day 2—the No. 63 overall pick in the second round and the No. 94 overall pick in the third round. Currently, the receiver is visiting with the Seattle Seahawks.
Western Kentucky @WKUFootball receiver Malachi Worley
Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
