San Francisco 49ers: Who Will Be the Number Three Receiver?

Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bruce Ellington (10) celebrates with 49ers wide receiver Quinton Patton (11) after Ellington scored on a 8 yard pass during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers USA; at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers will start training camp for this upcoming season with 12 wide receivers on their roster: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Jerome Simpson, Quinton Patton, Bruce Ellington, DeAndre Smelter, Isaac Blakeney, DeAndrew White, Dres Anderson, DiAndre Campbell, Chuck Jacobs, and Mario Hull.

Boldin and Smith will be the two starting receivers, but after that, playing time is up in the air. It still remains unclear who the 49ers’ third receiver will be. The most likely candidates are Simpson, Ellington, and Patton, since the other players are long shots to make the roster (such as White, Anderson, and Jacobs) or have little to no chance at making the roster and could just be added to the 49ers’ practice squad (Blakeney, Campbell, and Hull).

Smelter, one of the 49ers’ 2015 draft picks, would possibly be in the conversation for the number three receiver spot, but he will most likely start the season on the NFI list.

With that being said, let’s further examine the three main candidates for the number three receiver spot.

Next: Jerome Simpson