Who Should I Start? Jacob Cowing or Jordan Watkins

Friday, October 16, 9:55 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing could take on a significant role in Week 6 and beyond. The 49ers have been one of the NFL's most injured teams this year, and no position has been hit harder in San Francisco than wide receiver. Mike Evans (ribs) and Deebo Samuel Sr. (hamstring) could both sit out Week 6 after missing practice on Friday, and De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle), Christian Kirk (calf), and Demarcus Robinson (ankle) are all on injured reserve. That leaves Jordan Watkins and Cowing as the 49ers' top two healthy receivers. While we haven't seen much of a track record of production from Cowing, the opportunity and volume alone are enough to put him on the WR3/flex radar for as long as Evans and Samuel are hurt. He has played at least 31% of the snaps in each of the last four weeks, and while he did catch his first pass of the season on Sunday, he also lost a fumble. A higher ceiling but similarly low floor await Cowing going forward.