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Why the 49ers Need to Use Jacob Cowing More on Offense in 2025

Cowing seems ready to contribute and he has the exact skill set the 49ers' offense is lacking. Give him the freaking ball.

Grant Cohn

Oct 20, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing (19) reacts after making a catch for a first down against the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Oct 20, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing (19) reacts after making a catch for a first down against the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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The 49ers offense is old and slow.

All the top receivers on the team struggle to create separation on their own, which is a big reason why Brock Purdy's passer rating versus man-to-man coverage this season was a mere 61.5. He had to throw more passes than usual into tight windows, and he doesn't have the arm talent to pull off those high-degree-of-difficulty throws.

To succeed in the future, Purdy will need a receiver who can get open consistently. That receiver used to be Brandon Aiyuk, but it's unclear how effective he'll be when he returns from his gruesome knee injury.

That's why the 49ers need to use Jacob Cowing more on offense in 2025.

Cowing runs a 4.38 -- he's the fastest receiver on the team. The 49ers drafted in the fourth round last season. And when they threw him the ball, he usually made good things happen. He averaged a whopping 20 yards per catch. But the 49ers threw him only six passes in his rookie season. Which is weird, because he kept getting open when he was on the field.

In Week 18, Cowing ran 10 routes against man-to-man coverage and got open nine times according to Pro Football Focus. Unfortunately for him, Joshua Dobbs threw him just two passes. Of course, Cowing caught both of them.

Cowing seems ready to contribute and he has the exact skill set the 49ers' offense is lacking. Give him the freaking ball.

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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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