The Final Grade For the 2021 49ers Wide Receivers
Deebo Samuel just had one of the greatest seasons a 49ers wide receiver ever has had.
He produced a Jerry-Rice esque season. Led the NFL with 18.2 yards per catch and ranked No. 1 among all wide receivers with 10 yards after the catch on average, as only Rice could.
Here were Samuel's numbers: 77 catches, 1405 receiving yards, 18.2 yards per catch, 14 touchdowns (6 receiving, 8 rushing).
Compare those to the stats Rice put up in 1986: 86 catches, 1570 receiving yards, 18.3 yards per catch, 16 touchdown (15 receiving, 1 rushing).
Both were all-time great seasons, but Rice played with the best quarterback ever -- Joe Montana -- while Samuel played with Jimmy Garoppolo, who's never gone to a Pro Bowl. Imagine Samuel's numbers had he played with Montana or Steve Young or even Jeff Garcia as Rice did.
Samuel is the best player in the NFL.
And his running mate, Brandon Aiyuk, is an excellent No. 2 receiver, although the 49ers buried him on the depth chart the first half of the season so they could give playing time to Trent Sherfield, who plays well in practice. Unfortunately for the 49ers, that practice performance hasn't translated to games, as Sherfield caught just 9 of 20 targets during the regular season, and the 49ers quarterbacks' passer rating when targeting him was 53.5.
Midway through the season when the 49ers were 3-5, they desperately let Aiyuk out of the doghouse, and he helped save their season. He finished the season with 826 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns and a quarterback rating when targeted of 118.5.
And there's No. 3 receiver Jauan Jennings, who had to sit behind the old, washed up Mohamed Sanu for half a season until Sanu got injured. Sanu caught just 15 passes and scored no touchdowns in 8 games. Jennings took over the slot receiver role midseason and caught five touchdown passes.
Between Samuel, Aiyuk and Jennings, the 49ers had an elite trio of wide receivers in 2021.
It just took the coaches a while figure it out.
FINAL GRADE: A-PLUS.
