Who Should I Start? Jacob Cowing or Bryce Oliver

Tuesday, August 12, 8:32 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing (hamstring) returned to practice on Tuesday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN reports. Cowing, who suffered a hamstring injury on the first day of camp, did individual work and mixed in some team snaps in his first practice back. The 5-foot-9, 171-pounder appeared in 15 games as a fourth-round rookie last year and caught a mere four passes for 80 yards. However, he garnered praise from head coach Kyle Shanahan during minicamp, and there was talk of Cowing helping to replace the departed Deebo Samuel Jr. in a gadget role. Now, there may be a path to more opportunities with the 49ers facing issues at the receiver position. Brandon Aiyuk (knee) will miss the first several weeks of the regular season, Jordan Watkins (ankle) is out for a month, and Jauan Jennings (calf) is also banged up. Additionally, Demarcus Robinson is staring at a potential suspension from a 2024 misdemeanor DUI charge.

Monday, August 26, 12:07 PM

Tennessee Titans rookie wide receiver Bryce Oliver hauled in three passes for 52 yards and two touchdowns in the last preseason win over New Orleans. It was a mini breakout for the undrafted pass-catcher out of Youngstown State, who was having a quiet game until quarterback Malik Willis started looking his way in the fourth quarter, which led to two scores, along with the game-winner with 1:25 remaining. Oliver was not expected to compete for an active roster spot, but this performance definitely gives general manager Ran Carthon something to think about. Even so, with Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, Treylon Burks, Tyler Boyd, Kyle Philips, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine having locked up roster spots at WR, it's tough to see a situation in which Oliver ends up on the active 53-man roster for the Titans. He is nowhere near any fantasy radar heading into the 2024-25 season.