There was a substantial amount of hype around Jordan Watkins heading into preseason after the fourth-round pick’s strong performances in OTAs and training camp.
Following an encouraging showing in the preseason opener, Watkins has essentially had no opportunities to justify that hype, with a succession of injuries keeping the wide receiver from making his 49ers’ regular-season debut until last week’s loss to the Houston Texans.
Watkins had one catch for seven yards and also let a pass go through his hands on third down in the fourth quarter.
The former Ole Miss wideout will hope to have more chances to impress against a depleted New York Giants secondary, but, as Kyle Shanahan articulated on Friday, Watkins’ long road to getting on the field leaves him with an especially difficult challenge to make an impact in his rookie year.
Shanahan said:
“He had a really good OTAs and he got hurt in that first preseason game. I thought Jordan really needed the preseason to fully get ready and I think he would have been, but he missed all of it from there. I think he came back I think Week 2, and then it’s almost like he’s right back to the beginning of training camp, so you hope he can get that in a couple of weeks of practice. He started to do it, and then he hurt something in those two weeks, he pulled something, and then he get another month back, so now he’s getting back into it, but it’s tough for these guys. Same thing happened with Ricky [Pearsall in 2024]. He missed all of training camp as a rookie, then right when he came back he got shot, then it’s a month off and he’s playing the whole season kind of like a rookie training camp. It’s real tough when those guys miss it, puts them really behind the 8-ball, but he’s had two good weeks and hopefully he can continue to stay healthy. If he does, he’ll get there.”
Where there is a difference between Pearsall and Watkins is that, because of the injury to Brandon Aiyuk, Pearsall had a prominent role in the offense right off the bat following his Week 7 debut last year.
Aiyuk has still yet to return from the serious knee injury he suffered in that game, while Pearsall also remains on the sideline with a PCL issue that has seen him miss the last four games.
Still, with Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey ahead of him in the pecking order in the passing game, Watkins is not in a position to have a huge influence down the stretch as he works through his extended training camp.
Yet Watkins has the physical tools and the route-running savvy to make the most of the opportunities he does get. With a favorable matchup in Week 9, he could to take the first steps towards turning a challenging first season into a successful one.
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