It wasn\u2019t that long ago that the San Francisco 49ers seemed to have a plan for the future at wide receiver. They drafted Ricky Pearsall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and he was expected to take a bigger role as a second-year pro after working behind Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Jauan Jennings as a rookie.<\/p>\n
The 49ers were expected to move off Samuel after the 2024 season, having engaged in trade talks about him a few times, and ultimately did trade him to the Washington Commanders. That set up a trio of Pearsall, Aiyuk, and Jennings for the 2025 season, with younger receivers potentially taking over for the latter afterwards.<\/p>\n
But Aiyuk\u2019s return from a torn ACL and MCL during the 2024 season never came, and he now isn\u2019t expected to play another game for the 49ers after his relationship with the organization soured and his guarantees were voided last offseason.<\/p>\n
Now, heading into the offseason, the 49ers have quite a few questions to answer at wide receiver. Jennings is a pending free agent and should see interest on the open market with a likely pay bump. Pearsall\u2019s first two years have been hampered by injuries, as he\u2019s only played 20 games since being drafted. And there was a lot of rotating in the position group in 2025, with guys like Kendrick Bourne and Demarcus Robinson seeing key roles for much of the season.<\/p>\n
The 49ers should have money to spend in free agency, and a field-stretcher could be a priority, given the lack of speed San Francisco had at the position in 2025. Pending free agents like Alec Pierce and Rashid Shaheed could fit that role, assuming they don\u2019t return to their current teams.<\/p>\n
But the draft is also a place for the 49ers to improve and find a talented, cost-controlled option. Could that even come in the first round at No. 27 overall? NFL.com\u2019s Cynthia Frelund believes so, mocking Texas A&M star wideout KC Concepcion to the 49ers in the first round.<\/p>\n
\u201cConcepcion\u2019s ability to create space and earn YAC should fit well within Kyle Shanahan\u2019s offense,\u201d Frelund wrote.<\/p>\n
Concepcion had 61 catches for 919 yards and nine touchdowns for the Aggies in 2025, averaging over 15 yards per catch, earning him All-American status.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what NFL.com\u2019s Lance Zierlein wrote about Concepcion, comparing him to former Seattle Seahawks star wideout Doug Baldwin.<\/p>\n
\u201cConcepcion offers immediate burst and separation into space,\u201d Zierlein said. \u201cHe\u2019s elusive in beating press and getting into breaks with minimum damage from handsy coverage. While he has a one-speed approach, he can snap off routes with alarming suddenness, making him extremely difficult to match at leveraged break points.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s instinctive against zone. He\u2019s also a nightmare for man coverage on choice routes and near the goal line. He\u2019s quicker than fast, with more value on utility throws utilizing run after catch. Concepcion\u2019s ability to quickly uncover should be very appealing to teams with spotty protection and a young quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 5\u201911, 190 pounds, Concepcion could be utilized in the slot and on the outside, and his ability to separate could be a big boost for Kyle Shanahan\u2019s offense. The 49ers lacked separators in 2025, and it really showed in their losses down the stretch.<\/p>\n
There are a few holes to address this offseason, but wide receiver could very well be in the cards at No. 27 in the 2026 NFL Draft. And Concepcion is an option there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It wasn\u2019t that long ago that the San Francisco 49ers seemed to have a plan for the future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,6,1161,252,104509,1138,1137,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-736577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-mock-drafts","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-draft","15":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","16":"tag-sanfrancisco","17":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116031597314416346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}