49ers Turn to Dante Pettis as WR Injuries Pile Up in San Francisco
The 49ers are bringing back their 2018 second-rounder to the practice squad — a depth move that says everything about their gutted receiver room.
Rib injury is the real fantasy story here — track his status all week.
- Pettis was one of nine WRs to work out Tuesday
- 467 yds, 5 TD as a 2018 49ers rookie
- 9 rec, 127 yds in 8 games with Saints last season
- Ricky Pearsall out for the season
- Cooks signed to 49ers practice squad last week
The 49ers are running out of healthy wide receivers, and their solution is a blast from the past. Per a Tuesday report, San Francisco is signing Dante Pettis to the practice squad — the same Pettis they drafted in the second round back in 2018, when he racked up 467 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. He was one of nine receivers the team brought in to work out.
This is a numbers story, and the numbers are ugly. Ricky Pearsall is done for the season, Christian Kirk is still on injured reserve, and both De'Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson have missed time. Then Mike Evans limped off Sunday's win over the Cardinals with a rib injury. That's a receiver room held together with tape and practice-squad signings — Brandin Cooks was the last patch, added just a week ago.
Pettis, now 30, hasn't been a fantasy factor in years. Since the 49ers waived him during the 2020 season, he's bounced through the Giants, Bears and Saints. His most recent stat line tells you everything: nine catches for 127 yards across eight games last season (2025). Our model has him ranked #391 overall, #148 among wideouts — the far edge of the deep-league dartboard.
What It Means for Fantasy
Let's be clear: nobody is adding Dante Pettis in any format. Practice-squad depth pieces don't move the fantasy needle, and even a full elevation wouldn't put him on a redraft radar. The signing matters only as a tell — a flashing sign that San Francisco's passing game is thin enough to matter for the guys ahead of him.
The name to track is Mike Evans. He posted 30 catches for 368 yards and three touchdowns over eight games last season (2025, 85 PPR points), and that rib injury is the real question mark heading into the week. If he's limited or out, target share opens up in a hurry for whoever's healthy. Christian Kirk (#280 overall, and trending down at -2.2 fantasy points below his season average over his last five games) remains a wait-and-see on IR.
Bottom line: leave Pettis on the wire and keep a close eye on Evans' rib. That's where the actual fantasy value in this receiver room lives — if the veteran misses time, San Francisco's depth chart gets a lot more interesting for streamers.
