SF 49ers: Predicting Week 1 depth chart after final roster cuts

SF 49ers Wide Receivers

WR1: Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk

WR 2: Kendrick Bourne, Dante Pettis

Slot: Trent Taylor, Richie James

It’s important to note Kyle Shanahan won’t deploy his wide receivers in the traditional WR1, WR2, slot deployment many other head coaches and offensive coordinators use. Shanahan’s wideouts frequently line up anywhere on the field, slot receivers running boundary routes while outside wide receivers move over the middle with regularity.

While there was plenty of offseason shuffling at wide receiver, namely due to injury, the regular-season crop of receivers ended up forming in a way many others would have predicted.

Speaking of injury, the 49ers are expected to get back Deebo Samuel from a foot injury in time for Week 1. Same with reserve wideout and kick returner Richie James, who’ll act as a backup for slot wide receiver Trent Taylor, also returning from a year-long absence in 2019 because of injury.

Taylor is going to be a player to watch this season, serving as a third-down safety blanket for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

The hope is the Niners’ other first-round pick from this year’s NFL Draft, Brandon Aiyuk, winds up being a safety blanket of sorts for Garoppolo, too. But Aiyuk is also coming off a minor hamstring injury suffered in training camp.

For now, he’ll likely start the season as a backup behind veteran wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, but one might expect that to change as the season rolls along.