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Which Wide Receivers Will Make the 49ers' 53-Man Roster?

The deepest position on the 49ers by far is wide receiver.
Grant Cohn|
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Jacob Cowing (83) runs drills during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Jacob Cowing (83) runs drills during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports | Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

The deepest position on the 49ers by far is wide receiver.

They just drafted a wide receiver in Round 1 even though they don't need one. Then they drafted another wide receiver in Round 4 just for shiggles. And pretty soon they're going to waive or release a quality wide receiver who will get picked up by another team.

Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall all are locks to make the 53-man roster, although Aiyuk might not be on it initially if his contract negotiation drags into the season. Remember, Nick Bosa wasn't on the 49ers' 53-man roster initially last year.

After those four, it's anyone's guess as to which wide receivers will make the team. Last season, the 49ers kept six wide receivers on their roster, so it seems likely there are two spots up for grabs. And the contenders for those two spots are youngsters such as Jacob Cowing, Danny Gray and Ronnie Bell, and veterans such as Chris Conley and Trent Taylor.

I'm guessing Cowing will make the team because they just drafted him. So that leaves one more spot. I doubt they'll give it to Gray -- he's a bust. And Ronnie Bell could take the job, although the 49ers might want a more sure-handed punt returner to take up the final wide receiver spot. And that player could be Trent Taylor. The 49ers drafted him in 2017 and brought him back this offseason and he's good friends with the veterans on the team. Don't be surprised if he's the 49ers punt returner this year.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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