49ers Talk: Who will be top wide receivers behind Mike Evans in 2026 NFL season?
"49ers Talk" hosts Jennifer Lee Chan and Matt Maiocco discuss which receivers could emerge from training camp as WR2 and WR3 behind Mike Evans.
49ers Talk: Who will be top wide receivers behind Mike Evans in 2026 NFL season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
I think we know that Mike Evans will be, you know, the starter, but it's not necessarily who is gonna be starting the most games alongside him, although that's a big part of it.
Mm-hmm.
It's also who's the number three?
You know, is the number three and the number two interchangeable?
When 49ers go to three wides, who's that?
When the 49ers go to four wides, you know, whenever a guy runs a deep route and has to come off the field, who's going in?
So I think that's gonna be huge, and I think that in the 49ers' perfect world, Mike Evans is Mike Evans, and then Ricky Pearsall and Dejon Stribling play like the players that they were when, or 49ers felt they were when they drafted them.
Yes.
Which is a late first-round pick and the earliest possible second-round pick.
And then you also throw into the mix, you know, an old veteran like DeMarcus Robinson.
You have Christian Kirk.
You have Jacob Cowing.
You have Jordan Watkins.
So how that all shakes out is gonna be, I think, very interesting to see during training camp, and also who is Brock Purdy throwing the ball to?
Mm-hmm.
Who does he have the most trust in during the practices?
Right, and, you know, what we saw during OTAs was a lot of Jordan Watkins, a lot of Jacob Cowing, when they didn't really have much to show for in 2025.
Also, DeMarcus Robinson really looked good during OTAs, too.
So now can they take that momentum into training camp and show that it's still there?
And I think Dejon Stribling, Jordan Watkins going down to Nashville to work with Brock Purdy and hang out with George Kittle, I think that could help them a lot, so I think those two are going to be really interesting to watch.
