Kendrick Bourne could be in for Reduced Role in 2020

Wide receiver has been the most invested position by the San Francisco 49ers.

Nine draft picks have been used on the position since 2017. That includes the third-round pick the 49ers gave up in a trade for Emmanuel Sanders mid-season. The Niners have been pressed to find an adequate group of receivers, which is why they constantly throw pick after pick there.

However, 2020 just may be the year their wide outs pan out.

From top to bottom, the group of receivers all are poised to make contributions. This is the dream scenario Kyle Shanahan has envisioned since he took over as head coach. That way he does not have to rely solely on just one or two receivers on passing downs. He can spread the ball around from Trent Taylor to Jalen Hurd. Doing this keeps a defense guessing as to where the ball is going.

This is why Kendrick Bourne could be in for a reduced role in 2020.

There will be no need to have a No. 2 or 3 receiver since the position will be deep with talent. In fact, there isn't even a true No. 1 receiver, anyways. That title goes to George Kittle. After him, the 49ers have just a group of receivers who act as a supplement or a supporting cast.

There is no ranking, in Shanahan's eyes, when it comes to wide outs. It is why he has wanted an overall strong quality of receivers, so he can be interchangeable with his play-calling. This is a similar method he uses with running backs, so that if anyone of them lights it up, Shanahan simply can ride the hot hand.

The logic behind that is to not be predictable on offense. There were plenty of games in 2019 when Kittle was not involved or targeted much. That is because Shanahan opted to go elsewhere with the ball. He was using Kittle as a decoy which, from a defensive standpoint, makes sense. The opposition would rather let someone else beat them than the most talented player.

Having Kittle has a decoy would prove critical whenever the 49ers were in the redzone. That is where Bourne would come in and steal the show by displaying how clutch he can be. He just may still have this role in 2020, but the 49ers won't need him if the rest of the receivers are producing.

This circles back to my point about why Shanahan has wanted a deep receiver group. It is to widen the arsenal at his playbook and also to give Jimmy Garoppolo an ample supply of weapons.

To reiterate, this only will work out if some of the receivers turn out to be dependable players -- players such as Brandon Aiyuk, Hurd, and Taylor. The 49ers need their return on investment for those players to validate the hefty draft capital used on wide receivers. And should that investment prove fruitful, then Bourne's role will likely be lessened in 2020.

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