As a former college wide receiver himself, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan probably values pass catchers in his offensive system more than the average play-caller. Since he took the Niners’ head coaching position in 2017, the 49ers have devoted substantial resources in finding the right group of receivers for Shanahan’s playbook.
In addition to previous years’ signings of Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin and Jordan Matthews in free agency, as well as trading for Emmanuel Sanders last season, the team had drafted five wideouts since 2017: Trent Taylor (2017), Dante Pettis (2018), Richie James (2018), Deebo Samuel (2019) and Jalen Hurd (2019).