It says it all about the San Francisco 49ers' offseason when wide receiver Demarcus Robinson lands as one of their most notable free-agent signings. That's not meant as a knock on Robinson, who has fashioned a long career as a WR3/WR4 type. The move to add him is just not a major needle-mover in the big picture of league-wide free agent signings.
Brandon Aiyuk is coming back from a major knee injury, and he could easily be traded soon. Deebo Samuel is already gone. So Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and Robinson could be the Niners' top-three wide receivers next season, in whatever order you'd like to put them in.
Using a favorite goal-line situation passing concept from head coach Kyle Shanahan, NFL writer Doug Farrar showcased Robinson using four clips from last season when he played for the Rams:
Demarcus Robinson looks like perfect fit for 49ers offense
A lot things went wrong for San Francisco last season. Among them was the offense's inefficiency in the red zone. After the being the league's No. 1 red-zone offense in 2023, scoring touchdowns 67.2 percent of the team, the 49ers fell to 14th last season (57.1 percent). As noted by Jose Sanchez of SI.com, the Niners had the sixth-worst red-zone scoring offense in the league last season entering the month of December (48.8 percent).
Five of Robinson's seven touchdowns for the Los Angeles Rams last season were in the red zone, including the four Farrar showed above that were from 1, 1, 2 and 3 yards out, respectively. Robinson also set a career-high with 505 receiving yards last season (602 counting the playoffs).
There admittedly aren't many good options, but Robinson was the easy choice by Ben Cooper of Pro Football Focus as the 49ers' free agent signing with the most upside.:
"With Deebo Samuel off to the Commanders, the 49ers’ receiver room is not only set to look different, but it will be far more standard. Samuel's versatility allowed him to handle carries out of the backfield and on end-arounds, and while Demarcus Robinson isn’t going to take over in that sense, he will provide some stability for the team’s pass-catching corps."
"Robinson, with his fourth team in five years, has never dropped more than five passes in a season and is coming off a career-high 602 receiving yards and seven scores in 2024. He can be a capable WR3 for Brock Purdy."
The losses of Samuel, running back Jordan Mason and possibly Aiyuk will be felt by the Niners offense.
But they were also part of last year's crew that underachieved, so a new piece like Robinson might be just what's needed to notably improve things next season.
