The 49ers depth chart at wide receiver looks mostly set.
It’s unclear whether they’ll keep five or six WRs at final cuts, but there are five mostly set in stone. Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall are all locks. Fourth-round pick Jacob Cowing can be penciled in for the fifth spot. That leaves a maximum of one spot left.
Wide receiver Ronnie Bell is one of the players vying for that potential sixth roster spot, and he made a strong case for it with his performance in Wednesday’s practice.
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner detailed on Twitter a couple of the highlights from Bell’s outing:
Bell has had his struggles in this camp but he made a pair of impressive, contested catches, including one from QB Brock Purdy on a deep out to the right sideline in which he climbed the ladder, high pointed the ball and held on even with CB Charvarius Ward right on top of him. Later, he caught a touchdown in red zone work from QB Brandon Allen despite CB Ambry Thomas being draped all over him.
This is good news for Bell, a 2023 seventh-round pick who posted six catches for 68 yards and three touchdowns last season. He can certainly put pressure on the 49ers coaching staff to keep a sixth WR by putting together good performances in the passing game.
He can ratchet that pressure up immensely by contributing more reliably as a punt returner. Finding a special teams role is going to be key for Bell no matter how many tough catches he makes in practice. Last season he took on some punt return duties, but he had trouble at times fielding kicks and holding on to the ball. Dependability is key for a punt returner and Bell was not that a season ago.
If he improves there while also showing out when given opportunities as a pass catcher, he’ll give San Francisco plenty of reasons to keep him as their sixth receiver.
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