It is no secret that the San Francisco 49ers are in the market for a wide receiver. Two of the three free agents they were linked to were wideouts. After an NFL Combine that was historically athletic, let’s highlight some of the players who stood out this weekend and whether the Niners might be interested.
Winners
Bryce Lance – North Dakota State
If you’re wondering if that is the brother of you know who, your hunch is correct. The 6’3″, 204-pound receiver tested like an elite athlete across the board.
Lance’s 4.34 40-yard dash was the fifth-fastest at his position. Here is my problem with RAS, which is a fine tool that keeps track of all the scores. But Lance should not get the same grade for running as fast as he did as the other receivers, like Zachariah Branch of Georgia, who happens to weigh 177 pounds.
Lance’s 4.15 20-yard shuttle was second, his 1.49 10-yard split was the third-best, his 41.5″ vertical and 11-foot-1 inch broad jump were fourth, and his 7.00 second 3-cone was fifth. Kudos to Lance for competing in everything. Judging by his results, he knew that he would test well and did not disappoint.
Some players train for two months in hopes of testing as well as Lance did. In his case, he plays that fast. There are plenty of exposures of him zooming past his competition. There are valid concerns about the quality of the cornerbacks he faced, his physicality, and his ability to run a full route tree at the next level. However, if you’re looking for a wide receiver to stretch the field and open up things for your offense, Lance on Day 3 makes sense.
Skyler Bell – Connecticut
Skyler Bell was anothCombineer from the Combine at 6′, 192 pounds. The former Huskie was thought to have just average play speed. He ended up running a 4.4 flat with a 41″ vertical jump and the same broad jump as ance. Plus a 1.53 10-yard split. So much for being labeled a possession receiver.
Bell showed well at the Shrine Bowl in late January. Perhaps his being so under control made it seem like he wasn’t much of a speedster or explosive athlete. That was not the case this past weekend. The senior was UConn’s go-to threat this past season with 101 receptions for 1,278 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.
He was listed at 96th overall on the consensus mock draft board. Bell could see a rise from the end of the third to the top of the third after the Combine.
He had a 34 percent target share, with 31.2 percent of his passes being screens. Perhaps that was the Huskies trying to get the ball to their elite athlete. Bell did not often face press coverage, nor did he have a below-average drop rate given where he was being targeted. However, the production speaks for itself. And the same is true for his athleticism now.
Deion Burks – Oklahoma
I remember watching Burks at Purdue when he had a long touchdown against Fresno State two years ago as a sophomore. Burks played quality competition this past season with Oklahoma, but the offense he played in did not set up well for wideouts to flourish. He had two 100-yard games this past season. Both of those came against ranked opponents.
Burks came in at 5’10”, 180 pounds. He had the second-fastest 10-yard split at 1.49. His 4.30 40 was the third-fastest. No receiver jumped higher than Burks at 42″. Burks also benched 225 pounds 26 times, which was tied for first among the few wideouts who did that drill.
It is difficult to evaluate a player who ran a curl route 35 percent of the time. Outside of that, Burks was running a slant or a deep route. That’s not on the player.
To his credit, the fifth-year senior displayed plenty of promising skills that transfer to the next level, such as the speed at the combineCombineuddenness to run away from players, and the ability to track the ball when given the opportunity.
Burks may not be the wide receiver who wins in isolated situations on third downs that the Niners need, but relegating him to a gadget player is reductive. Burks should be a solid contributor at the next level.
De’Zhaun Stribling – Ole Miss
With as many as 15-20 receivers expected to go in the first couple of rounds, players like Stribling will end up being a bargain. He remains my favorite wide receiver in the class.
Stribling came in at 6’2″, 207 pounds. He had middling jumps at 36″/10’7″, but ran a 4.36 with a 1.53 10-yard split. That’ll play at 200+.
Stribling plays with an edge as a blocker, which will attract NFL teams looking to feature their wideouts in the running game. That 4.3 shows up when the ball is in his hands or when Stribling is running vertical routes. Against South Carolina this past season, Stribling ran right by projected first-round cornerback Brandon Cisse.
Stribling is another senior who should be ready to play right away, thanks to his experience. He can win at every level of the field. I was impressed with Stribling’s style of play when the ball wasn’t in his hands. Ole Miss used him as the lead blocker on several occasions, but also used him in the passing game when they needed a first down. That type of usage was difficult to ignore.
The idea is to highlight good football players who stood out this weekend. You can make a case for each of the four players listed above and how they could fit in the 49ers’ offense. There are plenty of players who tested well this past weekend who are not good football players. That’s not the case with this group.
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