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San Francisco 49ers: Way-too-early 53-man roster projections for 2019

By Robert Morrison

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: Members of the San Francisco 49ers line up in the tunnel to take the field before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: Members of the San Francisco 49ers line up in the tunnel to take the field before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) /
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Dante Pettis #18 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Wide Receiver (6): Dante Pettis, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor, Richie James Jr., Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd

This is another place where there seem to be too many bodies to actually figure out how this is going to work.

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

The top three or four seem to be locks. Dante Pettis is last year’s second-round pick and looked to be getting better as he got healthy and the season went on last year. Marquise Goodwin is the team’s resident speedster. And despite a down year in 2018, he’s proved to be a reliable option when healthy. Slot receiver Trent Taylor, who was also hurt and not as productive last season, developed a rapport with Jimmy Garoppolo during the quarterback’s stint at the end of 2017, and is the kind of shifty, change-of-pace guy Kyle Shanahan likes to have in his offense.

The selection of not one, but two receivers in the early rounds of the 2019 draft complicates the rest of the options, as both Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd are essentially locks to make the team.

The final one or two spots depends on other positions, like how many tight ends the 49ers keep, for example.

Richie James Jr. could take the spot, but he’s a seventh-round pick who only caught nine balls last year and might be redundant with Taylor around. But it might also come down to Jordan Matthews or Kendrick Bourne, too, so that final spot could be anyone.

I’m giving the spot to James, for now. But between James, Bourne and Matthews, I wouldn’t be surprised either way.