San Francisco 49ers: 5 options for No. 3 wide receiver in 2020
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Dante Pettis
When looking at Dante Pettis’ 2018 and 2019 campaigns with San Francisco, it’s almost as if one is comparing two entirely different players.
His rookie year, particularly over his final five games, Pettis showed all the signs of being a natural starter. Last year, aside from a handful of notable plays, Pettis was little more than an afterthought, even being inactive for Super Bowl LIV.
So much for the Niners’ second-round pick from the 2018 draft.
Yet Kyle Shanahan admitted it’s common for second-year players to go through a drastic fall off from what they enjoyed during their rookie seasons.
Shanahan also wants Pettis to bounce back, too.
Whatever happened in 2019 is done, yet it provides a learning experience for Pettis. Perhaps that’s motivation enough. And it isn’t as if those solid efforts and abilities towards the end of 2018 simply disappeared.
Pettis might have a longer road to climb in order to get into a situation where he either competes for a starting role or, more likely, winds up assuming the No. 3 spot on the depth chart. Yet a bounce-back campaign this offseason would put him into an excellent position to achieve this goal.