49ers roster bubble watch in the wake of preseason win vs. Packers
By Peter Panacy
49ers roster bubble after beating Packers: Wide receiver
Lock: Brandon Aiyuk, Danny Gray*, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud, Deebo Samuel
Strong bubble: Willie Snead, Malik Turner
Weak bubble: KeeSean Johnson, Marcus Johnson, Austin Mack
Long shot: Tay Martin*
If Kyle Shanahan keeps four tight ends, he likely ends up keeping only five wide receivers, meaning there’d be no room for any players currently on the bubble.
Interestingly enough, though, San Francisco’s wide receiver room this year is arguably as deep as it’s ever been under the head coach, capitalized by rookie Danny Gray, who flashed that 4.33 40-yard speed on the 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown from quarterback Trey Lance:
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1558257349965406208
Gray finished with two catches for 99 yards.
A deep threat now in place, and with fellow wideout Ray-Ray McCloud adding some deep-threat prowess, too, the fivesome of those two, Jauan Jennings, Brandon Aiyuk and All-Pro Deebo Samuel seems lethal enough.
If there are six wideouts on the roster, though, things get interesting.
Veteran Malik Turner made some nice plays during offseason workouts, while recently added Willie Snead is a good blocker from his days with the Baltimore Ravens, and Shanahan will appreciate that.
However, those two players and the remaining depth wideouts will have to make individual cases why Shanahan can’t afford to go solely with five wide receivers on the 53-man roster.