San Francisco 49ers: 3 wide receivers facing uncertain futures in 2020
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Dante Pettis
The 49ers have a lot more invested in third-year pro wide receiver Dante Pettis than they do Richie James. After all, the Niners picked up Pettis in Round 2 of the 2018 NFL Draft, trading up to No. 44 overall to get him.
Over Pettis’ final five games his rookie season, it appeared San Francisco made the right choice. Pettis flashed all the signs of being a quality starter, potentially someone who could have alleviated the team’s need for a true No. 1 receiving threat.
But then 2019 happened. Just take a look at Pettis’ game log:
| Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | G# | Week | Age | Tm | Opp | Result | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Ctch% | Y/Tgt | |
| 1 | 2019-09-08 | 1 | 1 | 23.320 | SFO | @ | TAM | W 31-17 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7.00 | 0 | 100.0% | 7.00 | |
| 2 | 2019-09-15 | 2 | 2 | 23.327 | SFO | @ | CIN | W 41-17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | |||
| 3 | 2019-09-22 | 3 | 3 | 23.334 | SFO | PIT | W 24-20 | * | 5 | 4 | 20 | 5.00 | 1 | 80.0% | 4.00 | |
| 4 | 2019-10-07 | 4 | 5 | 23.349 | SFO | CLE | W 31-3 | * | 3 | 1 | 11 | 11.00 | 0 | 33.3% | 3.67 | |
| 5 | 2019-10-13 | 5 | 6 | 23.355 | SFO | @ | LAR | W 20-7 | * | 6 | 3 | 45 | 15.00 | 0 | 50.0% | 7.50 |
| 6 | 2019-10-20 | 6 | 7 | 23.362 | SFO | @ | WAS | W 9-0 | * | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.00 | |
| 7 | 2019-10-27 | 7 | 8 | 24.004 | SFO | CAR | W 51-13 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5.00 | 0 | 33.3% | 1.67 | ||
| 8 | 2019-10-31 | 8 | 9 | 24.008 | SFO | @ | ARI | W 28-25 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 21.00 | 1 | 100.0% | 21.00 | |
| 9 | 2019-11-11 | 9 | 10 | 24.019 | SFO | SEA | L 24-27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.00 | |||
| 10 | 2019-11-17 | 10 | 11 | 24.025 | SFO | ARI | W 36-26 | 0.0% | ||||||||
| 11 | 2019-11-24 | 11 | 12 | 24.032 | SFO | GNB | W 37-8 | 0.0% | ||||||||
| 11 Games | 10-1-0 | 24 | 11 | 109 | 9.91 | 2 | 45.8% | 4.54 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/26/2020.
Pettis all but disappeared from Kyle Shanahan’s depth chart in the latter half of the season, even finding himself inactive for Super Bowl LIV.
Shanahan addressed Pettis’ situation from the 2020 NFL Combine, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco:
"I just want to see when he comes back that while he has been away, he has been on a mission. I think that’s what some guys go through. I think that Dante did that more his rookie year trying to make the league and stuff. I think he took a documented step back in his second year, which I’ve been around a lot of players who have done that."
A lot of players have done that, indeed. And not everyone bounces back in year three, either.
If Shanahan feels Pettis plays with a sense of urgency this offseason, that’ll be a bonus. But the former second-round draft pick is on a proverbial short leash, and the Niners won’t have too much more patience with him.