Three 49ers Wide Receivers on the Hot Seat

Which wide receivers are feeling the heat?

There will be two new faces in the wide receiver room for the San Francisco 49ers.

Those players are Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings. However, these are not the only additions to the position. Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor returning needs to be accounted for because they were not involved last season.

That means four new players have essentially been added to the position. With nine wide receivers on roster, not all of them will make the cut. That puts some of the incumbent players on the 49ers roster on the hot seat.

So which wide receivers are feeling the heat?

Richie James Jr.

I am going to be blunt here. I fully expect Richie James Jr. to be cut prior the regular season. James does not have a role in the offense, so he is expendable. He showed how talented he is as a punt returner at times, but Kyle Shanahan wants someone with more home-run ability. 

Plus, the addition of Jauan Jennings makes it seem that he is the clear replacement for James. Despite being a seventh-round draft pick, he is more than capable of making the roster. He carries that aggression when he plays that makes him a perfect fit in the offense.

That is something James lacks. The aggression and strong confidence, which was completely exposed during the Super Bowl. Surely, Kyle Shanahan has kept that in the back of his mind when James was completely shook. That hurt his stock as a special teamer, which should give a clear path to Jennings to take his spot. 

Trent Taylor

It would be quite something to see Trent Taylor miss the final cut, so expect him to make the roster. However, that doesn't mean he will be in the clear. His seat will most definitely be on the hot side during the season. With so many rookies added to the wide receiver position, plus Jalen Hurd, there is going to be a learning curve.

Meaning it will take time before those rookies can be deemed dependable. That is where an experience player like Taylor needs to come in and keep the offense well-rounded until those rookies are ready for a larger role. 

Otherwise, Taylor will find himself buried on the depth chart. If Taylor does not prove to be productive once he makes his official return to the field, then Shanahan will have no issue scratching his name out of the playbook.

Kendrick Bourne

Something that gets easily overlooked with the receivers for the 49ers is that Kendrick Bourne is the highest paid one. Now his contract isn't necessarily breaking the bank at $3.259 million, but that status of being the highest paid does make his seat hot. 

I won't go as far as my editor Grant Cohn regarding Bourne being on the bubble. But there definitely is pressure being placed on him in 2020. 

Bourne cannot catch of a case of the "dropsies" again at his number. He needs to replicate and even expand upon his role from 2019. It isn't just because of his salary, but because of all the additions to the position. There are only so many snaps to share and should he start to stumble, then his opportunities will be reduced.