49ers Post-Combine Wide Receivers: Three Risers and Fallers
With the NFL Combine underway, NFL Draft season is officially in full swing.
Emmanuel Sanders will likely play for another team next season, which will leave the San Francisco 49ers with a big need at Wide Receiver. Luckily, this wideout class is rather deep and with the Underwear Olympics officially in the books for the position, it’s time to take a look at whose stock is rising and falling.
Rising
Denzel Mims
The rise of Denzel Mims really started about a month ago at the Senior Bowl. He put on a show in Mobile by displaying some impressive speed and ability to go up and high point the ball, and this Thursday reinforced those skills.
Mims ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds which ranked third among wide receivers and his 38.5-inch vertical jump was good enough to finish in a tie for eighth-best. Measuring in at 6’3” with 33.875-inch arms and having the fastest three-cone time didn’t hurt either. Between the Senior Bowl and the Combine, look for the Baylor product to start skyrocketing up draft boards, if he hasn’t already.
Chase Claypool
Before this week, there was talk about Chase Claypool potentially transitioning to tight end at the next level. At 6’4” and 238 pounds he certainly has the frame to make the switch, but his impressive showing in Indy may have NFL coaches and general managers seconding guessing that conversion.
The former Fighting Irishman clocked the seventh-fastest 40-time among receivers at 4.42 seconds and nearly jumped out of Lucas Oil Stadium with a 40.5-inch vertical jump which was the fourth-highest among wideouts. In case anyone is wondering, the top marks for tight ends in those events were 4.49 seconds and 37 inches. Even Claypool’s bench press was impressive as he put up 19 reps which would rank seventh if he made the position change.
At the end of the day, his versatility and outstanding testing will certainly make him a coveted prospect in late April.
Justin Jefferson
Maybe it’s because there was so much talent around him at LSU, but Justin Jefferson has been somewhat under the radar to this point. It’s tough to stand out when you’re on a team that features the number one overall pick at quarterback, a top-five running back prospect, and the other wide receiver wins the Biletnikoff Award.
However, the spotlight was finally focused on Jefferson this weekend and he shined about as bright as he could.
He ended up running a 4.43-second 40-yard dash which was good enough to place him in the top 10 among wideouts. A time like that will make his 111 catches, 1,540 yards, and 15 touchdowns in 2019 look even more impressive and potentially, put him into the late first-round pick discussion. Who knows, maybe the National Champion will be wearing Red and Gold next season.
Falling
Laviska Shenault
Heading into the combine, many felt Laviska Shenault would thrive in this environment and potentially climb up a few draft boards. The slot receiver displayed a lot of speed and athleticism at the University of Colorado which typically is magnified in Indianapolis. However, a poor 40-yard dash time and an injury prevented that from happening.
Shenault was clocked at 4.58 seconds in the 40 which ranked tied for 32nd out of the 45 wide receivers who participated in the event. That’s not exactly the cushion-breaking speed that he showed in Boulder.
An injury forced the playmaker to sit out every drill other than the bench press, in which he posted a respectable 17 reps. It was initially reported that the ailment won’t require surgery and shouldn’t have any lingering effects. However, it was revealed today that Shenault would indeed undergo surgery to repair a core muscle.
Shenault had some injury concerns in college and this only adds more fuel to the fire. Between the injury and underwhelming 40-time, expect teams to proceed with caution when it comes to the former Buffalo.
Jalen Reagor
This weekend started off well for Jalen Reagor. He added some much-needed weight by getting up to 206 pounds and many people, including myself, were very excited to see what he could do with the extra mass. Unfortunately, the former Horned Frog was rather disappointing.
In college, Reagor showed some dynamic speed and great after-the-catch ability, however, the extra pounds appeared to slow him down at the combine. He ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash which was closer to the middle of the pack than many expected.
The TCU product’s straight-line speed wasn’t terrible, but his 7.31 three-cone time was the third-worst among receivers who participated in the drill.
Reagor’s tape speaks for itself but at his pro day next month, he’ll have to show that he can carry the extra weight a little better. Otherwise, his draft stock might continue to drop, which actually could end up being a good thing for San Francisco.
Tee Higgins
Over the past few months, Tee Higgins’ status as one of the top wide receivers in this draft class has come into question. Primarily because he’s not viewed as a top-tier athlete, or at least not on the same level as some of the other wideouts. The combine could have been the perfect opportunity for Higgins to prove the doubters wrong, but he opted to sit out of all the drills.
The former Clemson Tiger cited the lack of time to prepare due to the quick turnaround from the National Championship Game as the reason for his decision. While that’s a legitimate excuse since that contest was only six weeks ago, seeing Justin Jefferson handle the same situation perfectly fine doesn’t exactly work in Higgins’ favor.
Ultimately, the Clemson product had a chance to prove some of the narratives surrounding him wrong and instead, he balked at the opportunity.
