Why 49ers WR Dante Pettis breaks out after Week 4 bye

Despite his quiet start to 2019, San Francisco 49ers WR Dante Pettis is primed to break out soon. There’s a strong chance it happens right after the Niners’ bye week.

The San Francisco 49ers are having a dream start to the year: 3-0 with a much-needed break due to injuries. However, there’s one guy who may have benefited from playing this week.

Wide receiver Dante Pettis scored the game-winning touchdown in last weeks 24-20 comeback victory. It was his first of the year and the sixth of his young career.

The 2018 second-round draft pick hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations — at least not yet. A knee injury last year ended what looked to be a promising rookie campaign. He caught 27 passes with five of those being touchdowns, and hee also racked up 467 receiving yards.

You can check out his stats thus far here on ESPN.

Pettis will get a decent opportunity to put up big numbers after San Francisco’s early-season break, as he and the rest of the stout 49ers offense will be facing a Cleveland Browns defense that can be attacked through the air. Week 5 should provide quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo with an excellent chance to spread the wealth among his receiving corps, including the second-year wideout.

After last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pettis received a lot of positive feedback from Garoppolo and head coach Kyle Shanahan:

Pettis has a lot of speed, as well as quickness. On his touchdown play against the Steelers, he showed he can turn on a dime and has a great football IQ.

As you can see in the video below, Pettis comes off the line with a sense of purpose. He faces tight coverage, but steps toward the ball to snag it away for the score. Imagine if he wasn’t aggressive in this situation; The outcome would have been different, that’s for sure:

Pettis has a great opportunity to be the No. 1 receiver on this team for the remainder of the 2019 season. However, there are a few other players looking to be offensive stars. Niner Noise’s Matt Stephenson breaks down who else is striving to be ‘the guy” in the following article:

Is Deebo Samuel the 49ers answer for wide receiver No. 1?

With the San Francisco 49ers still trying to figure out just who is their No. 1 wide receiver, rookie Deebo Samuel makes a pretty strong case.

Second-round draft picks are often expected to perform like first-rounders. Pettis has shown flashes of brilliance, but there needs to be more consistency to his game. With more action and time on the field, allowing his quarterback to develop needed chemistry, he has all the skills to make a huge impact next week.

Pettis needs to show Shanahan and Garoppolo he can be trusted in any situation at any time. Last week’s game certainly helped his case.

One of the many questions is whether he has a break out game against Cleveland. And if he does, will he be able to keep it up the following week when the 49ers travel to take on the Los Angeles Rams?

The Rams’ defense gives up less than 200 yards passing per game and has a pretty solid secondary; They didn’t make it to the Super Bowl last season just because of their quarterback.

It will be interesting to see how this situation shapes up. Pettis needs to keep improving week-by-week. If he can display his talents on a Monday Night Football broadcast, there is certainly reason to believe this kid is for real.