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INDIANAPOLIS – Last year, the 49ers invested a second round pick on wide receiver Dante Pettis.
Pettis enters the off-season as a starter after averaging 17.3 yards and capturing five touchdowns in 27 receptions.
"He finished the year in strength," said 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. "He's finished the year as probably our best guy and I'm expecting him to come even better next season." It's a guy who can enter and play all three positions (receiver). "
Now the question is who will join Pettis in the starting training. The other starter is probably not on the team's list yet.
The 49ers showed no interest in the veteran mercurial Antonio Brown, who, it seems, has always been at the center of dramas and personality problems during his stint at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The veteran market does not seem attractive. This could mean that the 49ers will again use their second round pick, number 36 in total, on a wide receiver.
"They are looking for a receiver and I hope it will be me," said Riley Ridley, receiver of Georgia Wide, after meeting with the 49ers. "They are looking for guys to turn this system. I want to be a leader. I want to be a sponge and I want to listen and learn.
Ridley was part of a large group of receivers with whom the 49ers met at the NFL Scouting Combine. They had 15-minute official talks with many shorter informal conversations with everyone else.
Veteran Marquise Goodwin has started 24 of the 27 games in which she has appeared in the past two seasons with the 49ers. The club had originally signed him to play the role that Taylor Gabriel had played in Shanahan's attack on the Atlanta Falcons.
But because the 49ers had no one better, they were forced to play a lot at Goodwin – too much, according to Shanahan. The 49ers think that Goodwin's speed can be better used in a specialized role.
Kendrick Bourne finished the season as wide receiver of the 49ers. He caught 42 passes for 487 yards and four touchdowns. The 49ers also want to improve at this place.
The 49ers are looking for a bigger receiver – but not at the expense of speed, speed, agility and the skills to open up. Shanahan does not believe that size is an ideal attribute for a receiver if he lacks other skills to separate himself.
There may not be a receiver – or a group of them – firmly established as mediators of the first round and as game changers. So each player tries to stand out in a field overcrowded.
"In the end, these are my ball skills and the way I play, my mentality, the way I go for the ball," said Kelvin Harmon of North Carolina State. "These 50-50 balls are normally 90-10 balls in my path. And if I do not catch it, it will not be an interception. "
"Personally, I'm by far the best receiver of the project," said wide receiver Ole Miss A.J. Brown, who met the 49ers on Friday night. "I'm versatile. I can play indoors and outdoors. I make good roads. I have strong hands and I am a man after the capture. Many guys are not like that. I am very different. "
Brown's teammate, D.K. Metcalf, could be the board's first wide receiver. He met the 49ers earlier in the week. He is likely to be selected before the 49ers play the clock for their second round pick.
South Carolina receiver Deebo Samuel had, for the most part, a 49-day interview with the 49ers during the Senior Bowl. He had his first experience with Shanahan's playbook and distinguished himself during the practice week.
"Coming from the university, the wording is not really complicated, so it was simply a matter of writing the wording to the Senior Bowl and taking a long time to try a book of NFL game, "said Samuel.
He also met again with members of the organization this week, including new receiver receiver coach Wes Welker. The 49ers hired Welker after the Senior Bowl, so Samuel was with him for the first time in the combined.
"This is the guy who was shooting the film, and by the time I'm about to go out, I took a double take:" Oh, it's Wes Welker, "said Samuel." I just got realize that it is their receiving coach. "
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What Samuel remembers most of Welker, five selections for the Pro Bowl, was the way he would manage his optional routes from the slot.
"He was indestructible," said Samuel.
Now, the 49ers are looking for a wide receiver capable of joining the roster of 53 players, not just the coaching staff.
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