SF 49ers: Position report-card grades halfway through 2020

SF 49ers Wide Receiver

From an overall-impact perspective when measured against desired expectations, it would be hard to view San Francisco’s 2020 wide receiver efforts with anything more than scorn and disappointment.

Outside of the first-year rookie, Brandon Aiyuk, this unit has generally failed to deliver with any sort of consistency over the course of this season. Aiyuk has been exemplary, of course, currently boasting a team-best 371 receiving yards at this position with four combined touchdowns.

But there hasn’t been much of anything prolific elsewhere, aside from the Week 9 splash of depth wideout Richie James against the Green Bay Packers when Kyle Shanahan essentially had no one else at his disposal.

Second-year pro Deebo Samuel has been available for only four games, which has been a disappointment. Kendrick Bourne continues to be a good tertiary option, but that’s the extent of his production. And the Niners have been forced to recognize Dante Pettis was a bust of a pick, parting ways with him just after the trade deadline after his stock took a massive tumble in 2019 and into 2020.

Taking away Aiyuk’s 371 yards and George Kittle’s 474 yards, the Niners would have a mere 1,450 pass yards on the season, which would equate to fourth worst in the league. True, some of those yards would have gone to other players, but it’s pretty safe to assume San Francisco isn’t getting the desired production from its other pass-catchers outside of Aiyuk and Kittle this season.