3 former 49ers NFL Draft picks who still need a job in 2021

No. 2: Former 49ers Wide Receiver Dante Pettis

Fans probably aren’t as endeared to wide receiver Dante Pettis, the Niners’ second-round pick from the 2018 NFL Draft and a player for whom they traded up to get.

Pettis, of course, finished strong his rookie year. But a lack of focus and effort in 2019 put him in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s doghouse, inevitably leading to him being a Super Bowl inactive that season and then subsequently being waived in 2020.

Of the experience, Pettis told Steve Serby of the New York Post:

"I guess I was a little more immature where I wasn’t practicing as hard, and they saw that as like I didn’t care or something. At practice like I didn’t get the urgency, I guess. Not disagreements, I guess just not seeing things the same way. It didn’t get fixed as soon as it should have."

The Giants claimed Pettis shortly after he was waived, although they only received modest production from him over the latter stages of 2020.

And with New York completely revamping its wide receiver room entering 2021 to provide quarterback Daniel Jones with additional weaponry, Pettis’ chances of making the cut were slim.

All to the point where Pettis was waived when the G-Men brought their preseason roster down to 53 players.

Maybe Pettis’ next chance will be his best one.