Danny Gray can't afford to let the 49ers down during training camp
As Brandon Aiyuk continues to rise and make himself more of a factor on the San Francisco 49ers offense, Danny Gray is falling and will find himself on the outs come final cuts in September if he doesn't start picking up the pace. Gray was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, […]
As Brandon Aiyuk continues to rise and make himself more of a factor on the San Francisco 49ers offense, Danny Gray is falling and will find himself on the outs come final cuts in September if he doesn't start picking up the pace.
Gray was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but failed to make any kind of impact during his rookie year. He finished with just one catch for 10-yards on seven targets and he played just 87 offensive snaps through 13 games. He never got on track and never found a role on offense.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan still has hope for Gray and so far, according to Shanahan, Gray has had a good offseason in terms of his process.
"I think Danny learned from his first year, just how long that grind is of a rookie year, just going from the offseason of the combine and all the workouts to getting here and really never stopping," said Shanahan. "And we saw him in the offseason have a little different attention to detail the way he came here in phase one and two, how he worked to get in shape and that’s what has allowed him to have a good OTAs and go through a bunch of stuff, which to me he’s finally got in the shape to where he could do everything and this will really help him for training camp.”
The learning curve from college to the NFL is a steep one and not every single rookie comes in and immediately figures things out. This is obviously encouraging from Gray, but so far, the improvement hasn't actually translated into on-field production.
Samuel didn’t take part in any seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 situations, which gave Gray plenty of action. The best thing you can say is that he was inconsistent. He had some nice plays, particularly in Tuesday’s practice when he used his speed to break away from the defense on a nicely designed catch-and-run play. But he also had a lot of drops — a theme for 49ers pass catchers not named Aiyuk — slips and stumbles.
That is, the light has not yet fully come on for the former third-round pick. The best you can say is that it’s blinking. – Matt Barrows, The Athletic
Gray has to start stepping up in what even Shanahan has referred to as a "heavy" receiver room. The top-3 guys are set in Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings. Behind them, Ray-Ray McCloud holds down a spot because of his abilities in the return game, which only leaves one or two jobs, max. Teams typically carry six wide receivers into the season, but the 49ers are going to carry three quarterbacks and that could easily force them to keep five WRs. The team carried five into 2022, but has carried at least six into every other season under Shanahan.
Even with two open spots, it's logical to think veteran Chris Conley gets a spot because of his run blocking abilities and he can still catch the ball, too. He'd probably slot in on offense before McCloud in most situations, anyway. Then there's veteran Willie Snead IV and seventh-round rookie Ronnie Bell, among others.
The key with all those names -and with the WR5/6 positions- is they play special teams. Players that get to this point have to play teams or else they're a waste of a roster spot. Outside of injury, the top wideouts aren't going to come off the field because of how play-calling goes. Teams don't run four- and five-receiver sets on every play, obviously.
Gray logged just 19 special teams snaps in 2022. The guys above him have a lot more experience and Bell has return potential, which Gray doesn't. He's easily at a disadvantage if he can't get it together on the field.
If Gray can't produce, then he's easily going to find himself on the outside of the final 53-man roster. Odds are, in that situation, the 49ers would add him to the practice squad, but still, that's not a spot a player wants to be in as they enter just the second year of their career.
Featured image via Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
