49ers beat: S.F targets receivers Tavon Austin, J.J. Nelson.
Reinforcements are coming to the rescue.
The 49ers plan to sign wide receivers Tavon Austin, 30, and J.J, Nelson, 28, to bolster a depleted position group, a league source said. Both players still need to pass physicals.
The 49ers have just eight available receivers with their first official practice of training camp set for Saturday morning.
Deebo Samuel (broken foot) and Richie James (broken wrist) are sidelined, and Travis Benjamin opted out of the season last week.
Both Austin and Nelson possess speed, but each has had scant production over the past few seasons.
Austin ran the 40yard dash in 4.34 seconds at the 2013 combine, the secondfastest at the event that year. However, the former No. 8 overall pick has never realized draftday expectations. The Rams traded him to Dallas in 2018 for a sixthround pick and he had just 21 catches for 317 yards and three touchdowns in his two seasons with the Cowboys.
Austin, who had career highs in catches (58) and yards (509) in 2016, has 215 catches for 2,006 yards in his sevenyear career. He leads NFL wideouts in rushing attempts (196), rushing yards (1,340) and touchdowns (10) since 2013 while averaging 6.8 yards a carry. He also has returned 185 punts (7.9 yards per return) and 25 kickoffs (18.0) in his career.
Meanwhile, Nelson had the fastest 40yard dash time (4.28) at the 2015 combine, but he’s had just 11 receptions for 100 yards in 16 games over the past two seasons with the Cardinals (2018) and Raiders (2019). Nelson didn’t play in the NFL after he was released by the Raiders in October.
The 2015 fifthround pick has averaged 17.4 yards on 85 career receptions. Five of his 11 career touchdowns have come on catches of 40plus yards.
Summer schedule: The 49ers’ first trainingcamp practice Saturday will be the first of 12 sessions that will be entirely open to the media.
The 49ers will practice in helmets and shoulder pads this weekend before holding their first padded practice Monday. Only the first 20 minutes of practice will be open to the media after Aug. 28.