Why Richie James Jr. Deserves More Snaps in the 49ers' Offense
There has been more drops by the wide receivers of the San Francisco 49ers than any drops of rain in the bay area this season. These receivers are by far the weakest position on the team and it showed on Monday night against the Seahawks. A total of nine drops were recorded from the group, which played a factor into why they lost the game.
Nine drops is outright unacceptable and heads should roll because of it. That is a receivers main job is to catch the ball, but apparently that is too much to ask from this group. Kendrick Bourne was the biggest butter fingers from that game, however, he at least made some contributions. Marquise Goodwin and Dante Pettis were simply useless Monday night and were practically liabilities.
That is why Richie James Jr. deserves more snaps in the 49ers' offense.
James easily would make a bigger impact than Goodwin and Pettis. I would even argue that he is an upgrade over Bourne, but James deserves to be involved in the offense. He is like a mix of Goodwin and Pettis. He has the speed and can also run some sharp routes. It really is a head scratcher that Kyle Shanahan hasn't thought about using him considering all the errors the rest of the receivers have committed.
When no one was providing a spark against Washington in week seven, it was James who stepped up to the plate and had a massive gainer of about 40 yards. However, that has been his only target since week three. James is averaging 21.2 yards per catch, so despite his limited sample size he has actually made use of his opportunities. The same cannot be said about Pettis who was recently called out by Shanahan.
All season long, Pettis has been in the dog house. The guy just doesn't answer the call when the phone is ringing, so why not give a call to James? It really cannot get much worse than the current output by this current rotation of receivers. Swinging the focus to Goodwin, he is someone that should never see snaps in the offense for the rest of the season.
All he has is speed and nothing else. Speed can only take you so far as a wideout. You are either hit-or-miss when that is your best trait. It was quite revealing that Goodwin was put on special teams and made a bigger impact there than on offense. That really should be his exclusive usage. Putting James out there over Goodwin will bring in much better results because he has the speed and the footwork to cut on a dime.
After nine games this season, the wide receiver position for the 49ers is extremely weak. A spark needs to be provided below Emmanuel Sanders. Deebo Samuel has started to come into his own, but that is not enough. Richie James Jr. has at least demonstrated he is a capable talent that deserves more snaps in this offense. The 49ers are at a point where they need to start experimenting. Switch up the rotation of receivers and see which player wants it more because the plethora of drops from this group will cost the 49ers games.
