49ers roster: Austin Mack a dark-horse contender at wide receiver

On the surface, it doesn’t appear as if Austin Mack will make the 49ers’ 53-man roster in 2022, but there’s an outsider’s shot he hangs around.

It’s pretty easy to fill up the majority of projected spots at wide receiver on the San Francisco 49ers’ 53-man roster for 2022.

All-Pro Deebo Samuel is going to be there alongside Brandon Aiyuk, while Jauan Jennings showed his value last season. The Niners’ third-round rookie, Danny Gray, is a speed threat who’ll help, while the combination of return prowess and underutilized offensive thump makes the offseason free-agent pickup of Ray-Ray McCloud intriguing.

Five spots gone. Arguably just one left.

That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for depth wideout Austin Mack to underwhelm during training camp and into the preseason.

The 2020 undrafted free-agent pickup of the New York Giants out of Ohio State spent his rookie season spent nearly the entirety of that year on the practice squad before seeing some modest action in 2021 when he had seven receptions for 91 yards.

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Generated 7/1/2022.

Let go by the G-Men in September of 2021, Mack had a “cup of coffee” with the Tennessee Titans before joining San Francisco’s own practice squad late that year.

The 49ers subsequently signed him to a reserve/future contract entering 2022.

All told, the 6-foot-2 and 215-pound receiver looks to be little more than an extra body for training camp, but is it feasible for him to carve out a spot on the regular-season roster?

Why Austin Mack impresses 49ers during training camp

There are some similarities between Mack and Jennings, both in terms of size and skill set. But one of the things pointed out over at SB Nation’s Big Blue View is how Mack is a willing blocker, as they quoted former Giants head coach Matt Rhule:

"“He’s definitely a scrappy dude. One thing about Austin, and I’ve kind of told him this directly, ‘look man, you’re the kind of guy that hangs around a lot. You make plays and you do things. You block for us, you make tough catches. You’re going to help us in the kicking game at different times.’ He just keeps showing up,” Judge said about Mack last season. “He’s a guy that at times he may not flash all the time but does something that just jumps out at you. He just keeps making play after play and he shows up on a regular basis.“This guy has earned everything he’s gotten so far. He keeps coming to work every day and giving us reasons to put him on the field.”"

Depth receivers who aren’t going to get a lot of targets typically have to excel in other areas, primarily on either special teams or in the blocking department.

If Mack performs well as a physical blocker, that’ll certainly help like it did Jennings a year ago.

Why Austin Mack bottoms out with 49ers before he even gets going

Mack finds himself in a similar situation with the Niners as he did New York a season ago.

Entering 2021, the Giants revamped and reinforced their wide receiver room, primarily by adding Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, which diminished Mack’s chances of making the 53-man roster.

And despite the G-Men’s own offensive woes a season ago, they still deemed it necessary to let the former Buckeye walk.

Things aren’t much different for Mack in San Francisco now, particularly with an already-stacked wide receiver room and with the additions of Gray and McCloud, meaning Mack probably won’t see much more than third-string reps during training camp.

He’ll have to make the most of those, and that’ll be tough.

Chances Austin Mack makes 49ers’ 53-man roster

Mack might be classified as a long shot to make the 49ers’ 53-man roster this season, but such a possibility isn’t entirely out of the question.

The easiest route isn’t ideal for the Niners, but if Jennings suffers some sort of injury between now and Week 1, signs would point to Mack being the primary beneficiary, both in terms of his stature and blocking prowess.

This would mean, however, Mack still has to outperform other depth wideouts striving to make the cut, names like KeeSean Johnson, Tay Martin, Taysir Mack, Malik Turner and Marcus Johnson. Particularly with Turner and Johnson offering up more on special teams, Mack’s prowess could be undercut even if Jennings isn’t available by the regular season, and he’s not hurt anyway.

If one were to place bets, Mack’s likeliest of outcomes is to see the field late in preseason games while potentially gunning for a spot on San Francisco’s practice squad.

Unless things absolutely go his way.