Former undrafted wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has rapidly become an essential piece of the 49ers’ receiving corps.
Bourne, an unrestricted free agent in 2020, has consistently produced across his three seasons in San Francisco. Since signing as an undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington in 2017, he’s posted 88 catches for 1,102 yards and 9 touchdowns in 43 games. Bourne has also been reliable with 32 games played across the last two seasons.
He caught 16 balls for 257 yards in 11 games as a rookie. He followed that up by leading the team’s receivers in yards in 2018 with 487. That year he also posted a career-best 42 catches and four touchdowns. He set a new career-high with five touchdowns in 2019, while putting up 358 yards on 30 receptions.
[lawrence-related id=651465]
While the numbers aren’t eye-popping, it’s apparent how essential Bourne is as a third wide receiver. 23 of his 30 catches this season either went for first downs or touchdowns. Last year it was 30 of his 42 receptions.
It’s hard to put a finger on anything that stands out about Bourne’s game other than he gets open and catches the football. He’s especially effective in short and intermediate routes and has a knack for knowing exactly where he needs to get for a first down. Including the playoffs, Jimmy Garoppolo threw at Bourne 53 times. They connected on 36 of those for 446 yards, 6 touchdowns and one interception. Garoppolo racked up a 123.6 passer rating when targeting Bourne – his highest among all the 49ers’ receivers.
Perhaps the two best showings of the year for Bourne both came on the road. In a sloppy, wet game in Washington, he stepped up as one of the team’s so-called “mudders,” and hauled in three receptions for 69 yards in a 9-0 49ers win. He was Garoppolo’s only reliable receiver in that game.
Then in New Orleans, Bourne had three catches for 18 yards. All of his receptions went for six yards, including two touchdowns and a big third-down conversion in the fourth quarter.
There was nothing particularly special about either showing, but they perfectly encapsulated why Bourne is so crucial to San Francisco’s passing game.
The 2019 campaign wasn’t all perfect though. Bourne had some issues with drops, especially in the Week 10 loss to Seattle where he had a pair of crucial drops. However, he generally bounced back from those and it didn’t become a lasting problem for the 24-year-old, who posted four drops all year.
Given that he’s a restricted free agent, the 49ers aren’t likely to lose Bounre in the offseason. His return is a must while San Francisco irons out the rest of the receiving corps. Deebo Samuel will be back. After that, there are a ton of question marks. A reliable pass catcher like Bourne, who Garoppolo trusts, and has a track record of converting first downs and touchdowns, is essential.
Bourne’s role may not expand, but that’s okay given how good he’s been in the space he’s occupied the last couple of seasons. As long as he’s back and catching first downs and touchdowns as a third or fourth option in the offense, the 49ers passing game should be in very good shape.
[vertical-gallery id=653118]