With the San Francisco 49ers making a move for veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen ahead of the trade deadline, they are buying themselves time to be patient with Mike Evans. The Niners have been without Evans for their last two games as he deals with rib issue and Achilles issues.
General manager John Lynch has made it pretty clear San Francisco is going to be careful with Evans going forward, which is the exact right move. Evans has proven just how important he is to the offense, and while not having him during the regular season may make it harder for San Francisco to claim the No. 1 seed in the NFC, it really wants him healthy for the playoffs.
The nice thing about Allen is that he is a pretty decent stand-in for Evans. They are both bigger receivers who are great at moving the chains. Evans is 6-foot-5 while Allen is 6-foot-2, which is part of why he is the more formidable threat. But Allen is big-bodied and can go up and make plays even if a defender is on him.
Allen is also a huge threat on third down. While Jauan Jennings was so good at converting third downs while with the Niners that he earned the moniker "Third and Jauan," Allen is arguably even better at moving the chains.
Keenan Allen provides a Mike Evans insurance luxury to 49ers
Having Allen in the fold just gives the 49ers a great reason to be super patient when it comes to Evans' health. Even if they hadn't made a move to add a wide receiver, they probably would not have rushed Evans back out there, but Allen is an extra security blanket who should be able to help make up for some of what the Niners are missing without Evans until he is able to come back.
It's fun to think what the receiver room could look like with everyone healthy, though.
Between Evans, Deebo Samuel, Allen, Demarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins, and De'Zhaun Stribling, San Francisco will have a lot of really solid options to turn to. Who knows if it'll be fortunate enough to get to a place where everyone is healthy, but even if the receiver room is mostly healthy, it'll be a major plus.
Making sure Evans comes back fully healthy is super important, and the Allen addition ensures the 49ers will have adequate depth to weather the storm until they are able to get ther top receiver back on the field.
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