The 49ers spent Thursday in the reconnaissance phase of one of their most important decisions of the offseason.
Sitting in a luxury suite inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, general manager John Lynch and his personnel lieutenants watched the incoming class of wide receivers for the NFL Draft run 40-yard dashes and work out on the field.
It appears the class, widely considered one of the best in years, didn’t disappoint. Which is important because Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan might be in the market for one of the draft’s top receivers, particularly if veteran free agent Emmanuel Sanders doesn’t return in 2020.
“I think we like the core of our group. (But) the draft class is incredibly strong,” Lynch told reporters at the combine this week. “This is my fourth combine and it’s as good as I’ve ever seen. The depth of it, the top-end players, it’s a really good class. You kind of get whatever flavor you like.”
The 49ers have the No. 31 pick in Round 1, but aren’t scheduled to pick again until No. 139 in Round 5. That’s the selection they received back from the Denver Broncos in the trade for Sanders last October in which San Francisco sent third- and fourth-round choices.
Logic would indicate Lynch is open to trading back from 31, perhaps multiple times, to acquire more picks to supplement the roster that reached the Super Bowl last season.
The good news from the 49ers’ perspective is this receiver class is deep, which means the team could get another possible starter on Day 2 of the draft, as they did last year when they selected Deebo Samuel from South Carolina, who had the most receiving yards by a rookie in franchise history since Jerry Rice.
On the other hand, San Francisco traded up to use a second-round pick on Washington’s Dante Pettis in 2018. Pettis regressed last season and found himself out of the receiver rotation during the second half of the year — and was inactive during the Super Bowl.
A quick list of the receivers expected to go in rounds 1 and 2 with their 40 times and vertical jumps in parenthesis.
Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State (4.50 — 40 inches)
Justin Jefferson, LSU (4.43 — 37.5 inches)
Jalen Reagor, TCU (4.47, 4.50 — 42 inches)
Henry Ruggs III, Alabama (4.28, 4.31 — 42 inches)
Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado (4.59 — n/a)
CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma (4.51 — 34.5 inches)
Jerry Jeudy, Alabama (4.46 — 35 inches)
Michael Pittman, USC (4.52, 4.54 — 36.5 inches)
Clemson receiver Tee Higgins (6-3, 216) didn’t participate in Thursday’s drills, instead opting to workout for scouts at his pro day March 16. The dynamic red zone target caught 28 touchdowns the last three seasons, breaking the school record, and may be in range for when the 49ers pick late in Round 1 or if they trade back into Day 2.
It’s worth noting 40 times aren’t the end-all when it comes to receivers. The 11 most productive wideouts in yardage in 2019 ranged from 4.34 to 4.71 in their pre-draft 40s.
Kyle Shanahan before heading to the combine spent more than a week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on vacation, and told reporters he hadn’t done much evaluating of the prospects before getting to Indianapolis. His plan was to get to know players in interviews before diving into their film back at the team’s facility in Santa Clara.
None of the 49ers’ offensive coaches were on hand for Thursday’s workouts, according to NBC Sports Bay Area, while the team had a regional scout observing the 40-yard dash five yards from the starting line.
“It’s a good group of guys,” Shanahan said Tuesday. “I think we’ve got a couple more (interviews) today and then when we get back to the office next week, we can start grinding out and watching them.”
Shanahan was also asked about the difficulties in evaluating college receivers because they play in different systems largely against zone defenses.
“It’s a lot more spaced out with the hashes, so you don’t get to see a lot of one-on-ones and how they beat man coverage,” he said. “A lot of it is just spread out zones, so you can see guys run with the ball and their movements, but you don’t always get to see a developed receiver. It takes time to develop a guy, so you never know how long that is going to take.”
