For the first half of 2019, the San Francisco 49ers‘ group of wide receivers were anything but impressive, which ultimately forced general manager John Lynch’s hand to make the mid-season trade with the Denver Broncos for veteran wideout Emmanuel Sanders.
With Sanders in tow, the Niners managed to get enough production out of this group. And by the time the Super Bowl rolled around, head coach Kyle Shanahan relied heavily on the trio of Sanders, Kendrick Bourne and then-rookie wideout Deebo Samuel.
The Sanders trade highlighted some key problems, however. In an ideal world, considering San Francisco invested second-round NFL Draft picks for the position in back-to-back years, Lynch wouldn’t have had to make the trade with Denver.