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49ers spending time focusing on receivers
INDIANAPOLIS — Three days before wide receivers are scheduled to work out at the NFL Scouting Combine, San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke potentially shed some light on his club’s post-Jim Harbaugh offensive approach when he addressed the media Wednesday in Indianapolis.
“It’s no mystery we’re looking for guys that can run and get down the field,” Baalke said of his scouting staff’s primary focus when examining the pass-catching options in this year’s draft.
The 49ers have their highest first-round pick in years — 15th — in no small part because of the impotency of their passing attack in 2014. Despite having one of the strongest-armed quarterbacks in the league in Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers ranked among the bottom 10 last season in passing yards, percentage, yards per attempt and touchdowns.
With second-leading receiver Michael Crabtree likely to be lost in free agency, it’s also no mystery that the 49ers would be as likely as not to draft a wideout with their first pick in April.
As much as any team, the 49ers have the ability to go after their pick of the litter. With quality (the No. 15 overall selection), quantity (they’ll likely have two additional picks due to 2014 free-agent losses) and a roster some already consider among the most talented in the league, Baalke & Co. could potentially pounce on any enviable situation as the draft unfolds.
That brings Alabama star Amari Cooper, projected to go in the top five, into the picture, and certainly puts two other high first-round prospects — West Virginia’s Kevin White and Louisville’s DeVante Parker — on the 49ers’ radar.
Two of the fastest wideouts — Auburn’s Sammie Coates and Miami’s Phillip Dorsett — are projected to be available in the later rounds. But Baalke made it clear the prospects this week will have to do more than just run fast to catch the 49ers’ eye.
“Some teams put a premium on size. Some teams put a premium on speed. There are just a lot of different things you look at,” Baalke said. “But their ability to catch the ball and make plays would probably be the most significant.”
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