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Wide Receiver is the 49ers' Biggest Question Mark Heading into Camp

A year ago, the 49ers had one of the best wide-receiver units in the league.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) and Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (0) get tangled after a play during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) and Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (0) get tangled after a play during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

A year ago, the 49ers had one of the best wide-receiver units in the league.

Since then, Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus. Deebo Samuel requested a trade and got sent to the Washington Commanders. And now, Jauan Jennings has requested a trade if the 49ers refuse to extend his contract.

That's why wide receiver is the 49ers' biggest question mark heading into training camp, according to Bleacher Report.

"Fortunately, Purdy will still have George Kittle to rely on," writes Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine. "Jauan Jennings is also coming off his best season yet. However, the rest of the receiver room is speculative.

"All eyes will be on Ricky Pearsall. The second-year player had a strong finish to the season, but he'll need to prove he can carry that into the 2025 season.

"It would be nice for fellow second-year player Jacob Cowing to earn some snaps in training camp. They also added Demarcus Robinson this offseason.

"At least one player outside of Kittle and Jennings needs to show they can be a difference-maker until Aiyuk comes back."

In addition, the 49ers have to lock up Jennings with a new contract extension or else risk him holding out, or "holding in," meaning he might show up to training camp but not practice.

If Jennings gets traded, the 49ers might have the worst wide receiver room in the league, at least until Aiyuk returns. That's because veteran Demarcus Robinson also is expected to miss the first few games of the season after he was arrested for a DUI a few months ago.

The 49ers need to extend Jennings a.s.a.p.

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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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