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Who Will Return Punts and Kickoffs for the 49ers in 2024?

Don't be surprised if Trent Taylor wins the job.

Grant Cohn

Sep 20, 2020; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Trent Taylor (15) gains yards after catch against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 20, 2020; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Trent Taylor (15) gains yards after catch against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
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The 49ers designated return man for punts and kickoffs the past two seasons was Ray Ray McCloud. But he fumbled in the Super Bowl and the 49ers lost, so he's gone and now they need one or more players to replace him.

The kick returner could be Deebo Samuel, although the 49ers have been hesitant to use him in that role during the regular season, presumably because they're worried he'll get injured. Still, he clearly is their best option.

The 49ers also could use Christian McCaffrey as the kick returner, considering he returned 56 kickoffs in college and averaged an impressive 26.4 yards per return. But like Samuel, McCaffrey probably is too valuable to the team to do this job.

So the kickoff returner most likely will be rookie running back Isaac Guerendo. He returned 30 kickoffs in college and ran a 4.33 at the NFL Scouting Combine.

But who will be the punt returner?

The 49ers could go with Ricky Pearsall, considering he averaged a solid 10.2 yards per punt return in college and he won't have many opportunities to catch passes in 2024. Might as well let him do something.

The 49ers also could go with rookie Jacob Cowing because he ran a 4.38. But he averaged a measly 6.7 yards per punt return in college.

A dark horse for the job is veteran Trent Taylor, whom the 49ers signed this offseason. Taylor spent the first three seasons of his career with the 49ers then signed with the Bengals where he became a punt-returning specialist. And he's not bad at that particular job. And he's dear friends with George Kittle.

Don't be surprised if Taylor wins the job.

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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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