Forget Dante Pettis -- the 49ers Should Play Jordan Watkins at Receiver

This is not a joke.

The 49ers just signed Dante Pettis. To play football. In 2026.

This is the player they drafted in Round 2 of the 2018 NFL Draft who was a bitter disappointment. He left the team thinking he had been unfairly cast aside, only to bounce around the league for the past eight years. Last year, he caught nine passes for the Saints. This year, the Bills cut him after training camp. The 49ers were right about him when they waived him in 2020.

Now, Pettis is back because the 49ers are extremely depleted at wide receiver. Ricky Pearsall is out for the season with a PCL injury, De'Zhaun Stribling is out for months with a torn deltoid ligament in his ankle, Demarcus Robinson is out for weeks with a high-ankle sprain and Mike Evans could miss the upcoming game with a rib strain that is extremely painful. They need someone who can play this weekend against the Broncos potentially.

Pettis is 31, and he has experience in the system, so he's an option. The 49ers also signed veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the practice squad last week, so he's an option, too. Cooks is 33, and he actually used to be good, as opposed to Pettis, who never lived up to his draft status.

Instead of throwing one of these older players on the field, the 49ers should play second-year wide receiver Jordan Watkins.

The 49ers traded up to take Watkins in Round 4 last year, and they never gave him much of a chance to contribute as a rookie. This offseason, when he didn't dominate in the preseason, it seemed that head coach Kyle Shanahan gave up on him, considering Watkins was inactive in Week 2.

After that game, Watkins walked into Shanahan's office and asked him what he needed to do to play. Shanahan apparently challenged him to play better, then gave him two targets against the Cardinals, and Watkins turned those targets into two catches for 60 yards. He rose to Shanahan's challenge.

Watkins is just 24 years old. He's just as fast as Stribling and Pearsall, and he's actually healthy. And he's coming off a big-time performance.

The 49ers should reward Watkins with more playing and targets, not sit him behind two veteran journeymen who barely know the playbook.

Trust the young wide receiver. He seems ready to contribute, and he gives the offense an element of speed that it lacks and desperately needs.

Forget Pettis.

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