The 49ers had a serviceable wide receiver room in 2025. Most of that service won\u2019t be there in 2026. Jauan Jennings is set to hit free agency, Kendrick Bourne\u2019s status is still up in the air, and 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall can\u2019t do it all on his own, or when injured.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see what happens with Jauan Jennings in San Francisco, but Brandon Aiyuk may have played his last snap. As it stands, the WR room includes Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing under contract \u2026 and that\u2019s it. There\u2019s a need at guard too, but Cooper Jr. feels like a Kyle Shanahan-type receiver.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s definitely a Kyle Shanahan-type receiver, well, sorta. We\u2019ll get to that. Something tells me that with all the interest he\u2019s getting, he might be going a bit earlier<\/a>. Now, if he is there at 27? That\u2019s definitely a consideration. The missed tackles alone make me giddy with what Shanahan could draw up for him. The 49ers are expected to have interest in wide receivers during the free agency period<\/a>, with Alec Pierce, Romeo Doubs, and Jalen Nailor<\/a> among some of the names. So add one of those with Ricky Pearsall, Cooper, and hopefully Jordan Watkins, and that\u2019s a decent room.<\/p>\n There are just two things that worry me about Cooper. The first is, if you watch his highlight reel<\/a>, most of his catches are in space, and it would be more concerning if he didn\u2019t catch it. Sure, he\u2019s trucking defenders after the catch with that lower-body strength, but it\u2019s not like he\u2019s put in tough spots to snag the ball. That\u2019s not his whole resume; I\u2019ve watched him make a couple of one-handed grabs when the coverage is tight, but contested catches or just when defensive backs glued to him, I felt I didn\u2019t see enough of. It\u2019s not like he\u2019s bad at it when it happens, just never enough for me to say \u201cOh, he can handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n