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Kyle Shanahan Explains Why the 49ers Signed Robbie Chosen

Chosen ran a 4.36 40 when he entered the draft in 2016. But he's 31 and he caught just four passes last season. So he might not be the deep threat the 49ers are looking for. We'll see what he has left.

Grant Cohn

Aug 10, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan paces the side lines during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 10, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan paces the side lines during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
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SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers need more than a mere camp body at wide receiver.

They need someone who can start at split end if Brandon Aiyuk gets traded or chooses to miss games during the regular season. That's why they drafted Ricky Pearsall in Round 1 this year.

But Pearsall has been injured most of the offseason. First, he pulled his hamstring, and most recently he injured his shoulder. And so the 49ers' starting split end has been Chris Conley, who has 7 catches in the past two seasons and will turn 32 in October.

Enter Robbie Chosen, the 49ers' newest wide receiver.

“I've always been a fan of him, his whole career," said head coach Kyle Shanahan. "Especially going back to the Jets. Just the speed he's had, the way he plays for a guy who can run so fast. I always thought he played physical, ran his routes very well. When you're a very good go runner, streak runner but also can run a slant, it's a problem. Love that he has some experience in our offense, with just being with Miami last year. We got him in on a workout last week and he looked like what we've seen from Chosen in the past. We're excited to get him on board at this time.”

It's clear the 49ers are looking for a deep threat to potentially fill in for Aiyuk. Because without him on the field, the 49ers don't have anyone who can stretch the field vertically. Not Deebo Samuel. Not George Kittle. Not Christian McCaffrey. Not Jauan Jennings.

Chosen ran a 4.36 40 when he entered the draft in 2016. But he's 31 and he caught just four passes last season. So he might not be the deep threat the 49ers are looking for. We'll see what he has left.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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