All 49ers

PFF: The 49ers Have the NFL's 5th-Best Receiving Corps

Just two years ago, the 49ers had arguably the best receiving corps in the NFL when you factor in running backs and tight ends along with wide receivers.
Grant Cohn|
Oct 23, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) and wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) and tight end George Kittle (85) react with teammates during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) and wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) and tight end George Kittle (85) react with teammates during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

Just two years ago, the 49ers had arguably the best receiving corps in the NFL when you factor in running backs and tight ends along with wide receivers.

Now, Deebo Samuel is a Washington Commander, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey are coming off serious leg injuries and George Kittle will turn 32 in October. As a result, the 49ers' receiving corps has fallen to fifth in Pro Football Focus' latest ranking.

"The 49ers' receiving corps is an unknown, given Brandon Aiyuk‘s recovery from ACL and MCL tears and Christian McCaffrey‘s limited playing time last season while dealing with PCL and Achilles injuries," writes PFF's Trevor Sikkema.

"But the fact of the matter is, McCaffrey has earned 84.0-plus PFF receiving grades in six of his eight seasons, including the last one in which he was fully healthy (2023), and Aiyuk was one of the highest graded receivers in the league (91.7) in 2023.

"If they are healthy and can feature alongside George Kittle, who ranked second in PFF receiving grade (92.6) among tight ends last season, as well as Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall, the group deserves the benefit of the doubt, even without Deebo Samuel."

Sikkema makes good points, but he might be giving the 49ers' weapons a bit too much benefit of the doubt. Aiyuk probably won't be himself until 2026, Pearsall has proven nothing in the NFL, Jennings is a good No. 2 receiver who has never had a 1,000-yard season in the NFL or college and McCaffrey just turn 29. Will any of these players have 1,000 receiving yards this season?

Maybe, maybe not.

Read more

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News