Dante Pettis Impresses At 49ers Training Camp

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NFL

Rookie WR Dante Pettis Impresses At Training Camp

Rookie wide receiver Dante Pettis has impressed both the coaching staff and fellow teammates during the first week of the San Francisco 49ers training camp. The Niners surprised many by trading up into the 2nd round of the 2018 NFL Draft in order to secure their man.

Pettis, a WR out of Washington, brings versatility to the 49ers WR core. He was primarily utilized as a slot receiver and punt returner during his senior year at college. Pettis however, has experience lining up on the outside which will make him a valuable addition to the offense. As the season progresses, injuries will no doubt come into play providing Pettis with the opportunity to step up.

Pettis played 13 games during the 2017 college football season. He had 63 receptions for 761 receiving yards, averaging 12.1 yards per reception and seven TDs. He had 22 punt returns for a total of 428 yards with four TDs.

During the first week of camp, Dante Pettis has caught some bombs from Garoppolo. The young rookie caught a 45-yard TD pass from Jimmy G, beating 2nd year CB Ahkello Witherspoon across the line.

Cam Inman of Bay Area News Group, recently said on the 49ers Webzone No Huddle Podcast that he believes Pettis may one day replace veteran WR Pierre Garçon.

“I don’t know if it’s this year,” says Inman. “I doubt it. Outside possibility of it. But he’s not necessarily going to take over Trent Taylor’s spot at slot. I mean, he could, and Trent hasn’t been fully practicing yet because of the back issue. But Pettis, at some point, is going to become a starting wide receiver because he looks so talented.”

The Rookie’s Progress

Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked how he feels about Dante’s ability to win at the line of scrimmage so early on in camp. Shanahan replied:

“I think that’s one of the reasons we had him targeted very early in the draft. I think that’s why we traded up to go get him because we knew he had a skill set that fit us. It’s sometimes hard to see in college because they don’t see a lot of man-to-man coverage. It’s so much zone, and you don’t have to be great with your feet when you’re pretty talented because you can beat a lot of guys you’re better than anyways. But, you could see it sometimes.

He was such a good kick returner and got so many opportunities returning the ball. You could see he had the movement with the ball in his hands. Now, it’s about showing him that he naturally can do it and get him to do it in his routes. If you can make guys miss with your feet when you have the ball in your hand, you should be able to do it in routes, too. To combine that with his speed and his hands and his intelligence, which he is very smart. You feel pretty confident that he’s going to continue to get better.”

Pettis on Training Camp

Pettis mentioned this week that his chemistry with Garoppolo has been going pretty well and definitely picking up. The two have been getting a lot of reps together with Jimmy G and other Niners WRs providing valuable feedback to the rookie.

When asked how he would describe Garoppolo’s passes to him Pettis said:

“Normally like pretty quick cut out of your breaks. He’s really good at seeing when you’re breaking and so as soon as he sees that little indicator, he knows okay he’s about to break, I can get rid of the ball now. So he’s good at that, so you have to get your head around quick so you can see the ball coming.”

Garoppolo recently discussed the WR’s movement skills and how unique they are, Dante responded:

“I don’t know, I mean it’s something I’ve just been born with. It’s just the way I’ve always ran, my legs kind of kick out a little bit. I’m pigeon-toed so my feet turn in and I think it’s just a little awkward for people to see and so DBs aren’t used to seeing that, so maybe it throws them off a little bit.”

While mostly positive reports from training camp, Pettis will have to increase the speed of his separations from DBs in order to give Garoppolo a chance of releasing the ball before getting flattened.

Dante Pettis is a skilled route runner with only seven drops from 169 career catches while at Washington. If he continues to progress well during training camp, Pettis will hopefully be on track to have a standout rookie season with the 49ers.