Predicting 49ers wide receiver depth chart with Marqise Lee

49ers Week 1 wide receiver depth chart predictions

There’s so much in the air for how the Niners formulate their Week 1 wide receiver depth chart.

It’s possible players like Jalen Hurd and Jauan Jennings finally make that jump towards being quality possession receivers, using their strength and physicality to carve out t a niche role this season.

Yet San Francisco is likely to keep just one of those two names, and it’s also probable only one player from the veteran group — Marqise Lee, Mohamed Sanu and Travis Benjamin — make the cut, too.

San Francisco 49ers

But the lack of quality depth could prompt Kyle Shanahan to keep six receivers on the 53-man roster, and potentially in this order:

1. Brandon Aiyuk
2. Deebo Samuel
3. Richie James
4. Marqise Lee
5. Travis Benjamin
6. Jauan Jennings

The last three names are awfully tough to assess when compared to the others.

Lee might benefit from recency bias, but he was arguably one of the best remaining free agents in the mold of Kendrick Bourne, so that tabs Lee as a plausible addition. Sherfield, meanwhile, is due a considerable $200,000 in dead money, if cut, making him a fiscally more plausible add to the roster than Benjamin, who has zero in guarantees. It’s also reasonable to assume Jennings “puts it all together” after a so-so training camp last year where it was evident he struggled in the wake of an abbreviated offseason program.

That’s a sheer hunch, though.

This crop would mean Austin Watkins is likely destined for the practice squad his rookie year, while Jalen Hurd’s hope and hype finally dissolve.

Unless those final two wind up having an exceptional training camp.