As training camps approach, I find myself settling on Dante Pettis as the clear favorite to be the best of San Francisco’s wide receivers. In a typical fantasy draft, I’d be looking to pick him up in the later rounds.
The 49ers drafted a pair of wide receivers. They selected Deebo Samuel just four picks outside the first round, and they added Jalen Hurd early in the third. They also have Marquise Goodwin coming back.
But Pettis was also acquired with a notable draft pick – a second-rounder last year – and having been around for a year I think will help him. He should have a better command of the offense and what he needs to do.
Pettis showed some potential as a rookie. He missed some time with injuries, but when he came back healthy in November and they elevated him into a larger role (when Goodwin and Pierre Garcon were hurt) Pettis caught 17 passes for 338 yards and 4 TDs in a four-game stretch. That’s before getting hurt and missing their last game.
Pettis is healthy now, and Kyle Shanahan says he stood out at their recent workouts. “He worked while he was gone; he worked while he was away,” Shanahan says (as posted by NBC Sports. “He came here with the idea of, ‘Hey, I’m not just coming here to get back in shape, I’m coming here to get better’.”
Samuel, meanwhile, missed a bunch of the spring work with a hamstring injury. And Goodwin, I think, is best cast as a deep threat.
Some chance, I think, that Pettis finishes the season with top-30 receiving numbers.
—Ian Allan