49ers: In rookies Samuel, Hurd, team sees physical tools that can make them special
Months before Saturday’s preseason opener, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, a twoyear starter, was better suited for a more specialized role.
During Saturday’s game, the 49ers announced that Trent Taylor, their top slot receiver, had foot surgery Friday and likely will miss part of the regular season.
After Saturday’s game, Shanahan said Dante Pettis, viewed as their top wide receiver before training camp, was fighting for a starting spot.
This raises a question: Which
wideouts will have prominent roles in the season opener at Tampa Bay on Sept. 8?
On Saturday, in a 179 win over the Cowboys, rookies Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd made cases for significant snaps when the real games begin.
Hurd, 6foot4 and 230 pounds, flashed a blend of speed and power and scored the game’s two touchdowns. And Samuel, 511 and 214 pounds, had a howdidhedothat 45yard catch and displayed his wheels and physicality when he turned upfield instead of coasting out of bounds to finish a 14yard carry.
“We got him a run where you could see a little bit of his physicality,” Shanahan said. “Very similar to Jalen — their bodies are a little bit different but same type of mentality.”
The 49ers hoped Samuel and Hurd could contribute as rookies. Samuel was the third wide receiver drafted, selected No. 36 overall, and Hurd was a thirdround pick (No. 67).
It increasingly appears Samuel and Hurd will be required to contribute immediately. That’s because the landscape has changed since they were drafted three months ago to boost an underwhelming widereceiver corps.
Pettis and Taylor were offseason candidates to have the most receptions among the team’s wideouts, but Taylor’s outlook has been muddied by his surgery. His snaps could be assumed by Hurd, who played primarily in the slot last year at Baylor and has lined up at the position with the 49ers.
Meanwhile, Pettis, a secondrounder who was the fourth wide receiver drafted in 2018, hasn’t shown this summer he’s primed to make a secondyear leap.
Pettis repeatedly has failed to emerge with contested catches in trainingcamp practices, and he had a fumble last week when cornerback Greg Mabin ripped a catch from his grasp. Pettis didn’t protest in June when a reporter asked about his “hesitancy” going over the middle of the field, where the biggest hits await wideouts, as a rookie.
Pettis, 61 and 195 pounds, said he added weight in the offseason to deal “with the strength of other players,” but Shanahan has signaled he wants to see more fight from last year’s No. 44 pick.
On Saturday, Pettis was the only firststring offensive player from the 49ers’ initial trainingcamp depth chart to play against Dallas. The 49ers held out most players who have locked down key roles, but Pettis doesn’t have that status, Shanahan indicated when asked why Pettis was in uniform.
“Because I want him to compete,” Shanahan said. “We’re trying to find out who our starting wide receivers are. And I wanted to give him a chance to get out there. … Dante’s got a lot of room to grow. He can still get a lot better.”
On July 28, Shanahan said Pettis can reach another level, and he needed to do it “with size, with mentality and just getting after it every single day.”
Samuel and Hurd have offered evidence they possess some of those ingredients.
On Saturday, Shanahan praised Samuel’s competitiveness and noted he wasn’t overwhelmed by the NFL stage. Quarterback Nick Mullens said Hurd “wasn’t scared of anything.”
Hurd quickly showed he isn’t afraid of 223pound defensive backs. He punctuated his 20yard touchdown catch in the second quarter by running over safety Kavon Frazier near the goal line. Hurd also played power forward and posted up cornerback Tyvis Powell on a 4yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
Hurd, a former running back at Tennessee, said steamrolling Frazier didn’t register on the Richter scale.
“I used to play running back, so it’s not really a collision,” Hurd said. “I’m used to (defensive) tackles at 320” pounds.
For his part, Samuel leapt over cornerback Mike Jackson on his 45yard circus grab and finished his 14yard run by lowering his shoulder into 225pound safety George Iloka.
Of course, their August performances come with the standard warning label: It’s the preseason.
Powell, whom Hurd beat on his 4yard scoring grab, is a 2016 undrafted free agent on his seventh team who has one NFL start. And Jackson, whom Samuel outleaped, is a rookie fifthround pick.
But the rookies didn’t disappoint after Shanahan praised them shortly before kickoff. On Thursday, Shanahan said Kendrick Bourne, Samuel and Hurd had the strongest hands on the team.
Two days later, the two rookies offered early evidence they won’t let their opportunity slip away.