{"id":98748,"date":"2024-05-06T16:47:14","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T16:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/?p=98748"},"modified":"2024-05-06T16:50:09","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T16:50:09","slug":"this-4th-round-pick-is-listed-as-the-49ers-biggest-sleeper-from-their-rookie-class-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/this-4th-round-pick-is-listed-as-the-49ers-biggest-sleeper-from-their-rookie-class-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"This 4th round pick is listed as the 49ers biggest sleeper from their rookie class"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speed is everything in today\u2019s NFL<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The\u00a049ers\u00a0used one of their three fourth-round picks on a wide receiver from the University of Arizona. Cowing ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, but his numbers from his final season with the Wildcats suggest that he was more of a possession receiver than a player who stretches the field.<\/p>\n

Ninety catches for under 900 yards but 13 touchdowns, with most of those coming inside of the red zone. His profile doesn\u2019t fit the mold of your typical 5\u201911, 175-pound receiver. It\u2019ll be interesting to see what role Kyle Shanahan believes is best for Cowing.<\/p>\n

NFL Draft\u00a0analyst\u00a0Greg Cosell spoke about Cowing\u2019s time at UTEP when he was used \u201ctotally differently\u201d than he was at Arizona:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAt Arizona, he became a short to intermediate receiver that every once in a while might run vertical. When he was at UTEP, he was a vertical dimension, and he ran a 4.38 40. This guy can run. He\u2019s got natural quickness as a route runner. He runs precise routes. He\u2019s 5\u20198 and 3\/4. I think we saw what Tank Dell did a year ago.<\/p>\n

Cowing probably has more vertical speed. Dell is more explosive laterally, although Cowing is pretty good in that regard. But I\u2019m really interested to see him because he can run. The Niners don\u2019t truly have that guy. Aiyuk is not slow, but they don\u2019t have a true vertical dimension. Now he\u2019ll probably end up as a return man with the new rules but he was really interesting to me when I watched his 2021 tape.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In 2023, Cowing averaged just over nine yards per reception. He was no slouch, as Cowing had six receptions of at least 20 air yards. But when you go back to his UTEP days in 2021, Cowing averaged an incredible 19.6 yards per reception on 69 catches. He also had one carry for 53 yards that led to a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Cowing is a popular \u201csleeper\u201d pick this year, given his collegiate production, speed, versatility, and pairing that with Kyle Shanahan. Draftwire\u2019s Doug Farrar listed Cowing as the top sleeper pick for the Niners:<\/p>\n

\n

Assuming that the 49ers keep both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk this season, the addition of first-round receiver Ricky Pearsall gives Kyle Shanahan a different kind of target for which to scheme in that Pearsall is one of those guys who knows how to get open. But what about the deep ball? Aiyuk led the team last season with 15 catches on passes of 20 or more air yards, and George Kittle was second with seven. That\u2019s worked just fine to date, but it also sets the table for Arizona\u2019s Jacob Cowing, who the team took with the 135th overall pick in the fourth round.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the 5\u2032 8\u215c\u201d, 163-pound Cowing had six receptions on passes of 20 or more air yards on a team where the deep ball wasn\u2019t a feature. His tape shows a lot of speed potential, and in today\u2019s NFL, teams are less concerned with smaller receivers, given the use of motion and multiple deployments to keep them open, and away from bigger, more aggressive defenders.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If Cowing ends up as the 49ers’ primary returner and contributes 20-30 receptions and a handful of explosive plays, that\u2019d be a successful rookie season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speed is everything in today\u2019s NFL The\u00a049ers\u00a0used one of their three fourth-round picks on a wide receiver from the University of Arizona. Cowing ran a 4.38 40-yard… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98751,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98748\/revisions\/98751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}