San Francisco 49ers: Top 10 wide receivers in franchise history

No. 10: R.C. Owens

Technically, R.C. Owens isn’t listed as a receiver. He was more of a tight end-type although he was officially listed as a halfback.

But the 49ers, from 1957 through 1961 didn’t use him that way. Owens played like a wide receiver and made his famous “Alley-Oop” catches quite a spectacle. In many ways, he was the first pass-catching target to use his sizable 6-foot-3 advantage to literally outleap defenders in coverage.

That has been a staple of offensive game plans ever since.

Owens spent only five seasons in San Francisco but amassed 2,926 receiving yards and 20 touchdown grabs during that span — almost all of them memorable.