49ers Sign Malik Turner
The 49ers just signed another bargain-bin wide receiver who may or may not make the team.
This time, it's Malik Turner, who played with the Dallas Cowboys the past two seasons, and caught a whopping 12 passes in 2021. Granted, one of those catches gained a whopping 61 yards.
Turner is similar to Marcus Johnson, whom the 49ers signed last week. Johnson caught just nine passes for the Titans last season, but one catch gained 50 yards.
Neither Johnson nor Turner are locks to make the 53-man roster after training camp. If either one makes it, the 49ers probably will keep them for what they can do on special teams.
But these signings reveal the type of wide receiver the 49ers are looking for. Both Turner and Johnson are big-bodied wide receivers (at least 6'2") who can run deep routes near the sideline and catch long passes.
The 49ers haven't had this kind of wide receiver since Jimmy Garoppolo has been the starting quarterback, because he doesn't even look downfield, let alone throw downfield. A big-bodied deep threat would be wasted on him.
Not so with Trey Lance. Lance needs as many deep threats as possible, because he wants to throw long passes down the field. He completed three 40-plus-yard passes last year in just 71 attempts -- he's extremely aggressive. So it's encouraging to see the 49ers finally add some wide receivers who specifically fit Lance's skillset.
Still, it would be nice if the 49ers could find a deep threat who's better than Turner and Johnson.
