The 49ers Don't Have a Punt Returner

Maybe they should just fair catch every punt.

Grant Cohn | Sep 2, 2021

SANTA CLARA -- Technically, the 49ers don't have a punt returner on their roster.

Last season, their punt returner was Richie James Jr., but he's on the Injured Reserve List now. And then there's Travis Benjamin, whom the 49ers can call up from the practice squad on game days, but he has a concussion and might not be healthy Week 1.

If Benjamin can't go, who will return punts?

A reporter asked veteran wide receiver Mohamed Sanu on Thursday about his experience as a returner. Sanu fielded 10 punts in 2019, and an additional 29 punts in college. Which means, technically, he's a punt returner.

"I've done it pretty much all my life," Sanu said. "Started in little league, then high school, college. I've done it in the league. I've always caught punts."

"How do you feel about catching punts Week 1?" the reporter asked.

"If they ask me to do it, I'm going to do it."

The 49ers probably would have preferred Nsimba Webster to return punts had he cleared waivers and signed with the practice squad. But the Bears claimed him, and the 49ers got burned.

The 49ers also probably would like Brandon Aiyuk to return a punt or two, but he currently is out with a hamstring injury.

So Sanu might be their best option. But he's not a particularly good option, as his career punt return average is a measly 5.6 yards. And the 49ers would have to risk fumbles and holding penalties just to get those 5.6 yards, so their best course of action might be to ask Sanu or whomever simply to fair catch the ball every time next Sunday in Detroit.

The 49ers have plenty of players who could do that.

Published Sep 2, 2021

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.