San Francisco 49ers: 3 players who have career years in 2020
By Seth Hanson
No. 2: 49ers Wide Receiver Kendrick Bourne
While wide receiver Jalen Hurd has been my pick to take the league by storm and make a name for himself in 2020, he is essentially a rookie and it did not feel fair to put him on this list.
But wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has a great chance to do that as well this year.
Bourne has been a good story for this team. He was undrafted out of Eastern Washington, become a Jimmy G favorite red-zone target and is viewed as a great chemistry and locker room guy.
In 2019, he recorded 30 receptions for 358 yards and five touchdowns. When reading that, I had to pause because it felt like Bourne was much more of a difference-maker than those stats indicate. He always seems to be making plays on third downs, and as I said before, has routinely been Garopollo’s go-to guy down by the end zone. With the departure of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and the unfortunate news about wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Richies James, Bourne is going to see even more targets early in the season.
The schedule favors the 49ers early, so I expect a Samuel return to be cautious and slow. If Bourne can come out of the gate hot to start the year, it is very realistic to see Bourne finish 2020 with 65 catches, 700 yards and six or seven touchdowns. All three of those stats would be career numbers for him.
And if Bourne is having that kind of production, that is bad news for opposing defenses.