Niners rookie WR Ricky Pearsall made his NFL debut Sunday against the Chiefs and wound up leading the team in routes. Pearsall ran a route on 86.5% of QB Brock Purdy's dropbacks. That probably wasn't the plan going in, but San Francisco watched WR Deebo Samuel leave with an illness after just four plays and lost WR Brandon Aiyuk to a likely ACL tear in the second quarter.
49ers WR Deebo Samuel will miss "a couple of weeks" with a calf injury suffered in Sunday's loss to the Vikings, HC Kyle Shanahan said.
The 49ers selected Arizona WR Jacob Cowing late in Round 4 of the NFL Draft. Cowing split his five college seasons at UTEP and Arizona. He tallied 31-550-3 as a UTEP freshman before leading the program in all major categories in 2020 (41-691-3). Cowing, a primary slot, saw his production hit new highs in 2021. Fueled by 111 targets, he notched 69-1,361-7. Despite a 15.2-yard aDOT, Cowing still tallied a solid 7.0 yards after catch per reception. He also turned heads with 3.82 yards per route run. In 2022, Cowing transferred to Arizona to live near his son. The move paid off on the field, with Cowing seeing huge target counts (121 and 122) over his final two seasons. He again excelled as a run-after-catch asset. And there’s no questioning his total production. Consider this: In 2023, Cowing ranked second in the nation in yards per team pass attempt. New HC Jedd Fisch used him on shorter routes, leading to aDOTs below 9.0 yards. He gives off some Tank Dell vibes on tape, and that’s backed up by the testing (4.38 forty-time). Of course, WRs of this size (5’8, 168 lbs.) are true outliers. And in the NFL, Cowing won’t project for high volume – particularly once you factor in his 1st percentile wingspan. Cowing joins fellow rookie WR Ricky Pearsall in San Francisco. We’re still waiting to see if WR Brandon Aiyuk or WR Deebo Samuel will be traded. Regardless, Cowing isn’t a great bet for 2024 fantasy value.
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