Kendrick

Bourne

We miss the Mac Jones/Kendrick Bourne friendship. Since going for exactly 142 yards in back-to-back games in Week 5 and Week 6, Bourne has managed a total of 111 yards in four games, with just nine targets. If you were holding on to him hoping that Mac Jones would eventually get back to his main man, you can let go of those dreams. It looks like it will take injuries to make that happen again.

Bourne began October with a pair of 142-yard games as the 49ers dealt with a slew of skill position injuries. He has totaled seven catches for 92 scoreless yards in three games since. With George Kittle and Jauan Jennings healthy, Bourne is off the fantasy radar heading into Week 10.

He played 38-of-48 snaps for the 49ers, but hasn’t been as involved since Jauan Jennings and George Kittle came back last week, with just five targets in two games. Bourne looks like a drop candidate for most leagues at this point, certainly shallow leaguers don’t need to hold anybody with five targets in two weeks.

Pearsall attempted to play through the knee issue in Week 4 but quickly re-aggravated the injury. He has been out ever since. A DNP to open the week suggests Pearsall will miss another game because of the lingering injury. Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne will again operate as the team’s top wideouts. Jennings turned four catches into 31 yards while Bourne was held to 14 yards on two grabs. Fantasy managers can treat Jennings as a WR3 while Bourne is falling into the WR5 ranks ahead of San Francisco’s matchup with the Texans.

After amassing 284 yards the previous two games while working as the top pass-catcher, the returns of Jauan Jennings and George Kittle left Bourne with only two targets on a night quarterback Mac Jones attempted only 26 passes. It is clear that Bourne is capable of returning solid counting stats when he serves as the top option through the air, but that might not be the case as the team continues inching closer to full health. Bourne should remain on fantasy benches ahead of a Week 8 meeting with the Texans.

We expect Pearsall to officially be listed as a non-participant once again when the 49ers’ injury report comes out later today. The 49ers’ wide receiver has neither practiced nor played since spraining his PCL in Week 4, and appears to be heading toward another missed game this weekend. Kendrick Bourne could again operate as the 49ers’ No. 1 wide receiver when they face the Falcons on Sunday.

It’s the second-straight game over 100 yards for Bourne, who had the lead role in the offense and added 61 yards after the catch to being the main deep threat for Mac Jones. We can only speculate who may be available for the 49ers next week with Jauan Jennings banged up and Ricky Pearsall’s knee acting up, but if Bourne remains one of the top options on the depth chart and Mac Jones starts, the two appear to have good enough chemistry working to keep Bourne on the WR3 line against the Falcons.

Kyle Shanahan said he was “not counting” on Pearsall returning this week and after two straight missed practices, neither are we. Jauan Jennings did return to practice today, and it looks like Kendrick Bourne will once again operate as a main target for the 49ers with Mac Jones under center against Tampa Bay. Bourne’s situation is not quite as advantageous as it was last week if Jennings is able to suit up.

30-year-old Patriots castoff Bourne entered this evening with exactly one career 100-yard performance, hitting 100 on the dot in Dec. 2022 for the Pats. He also had only one prior 10-catch outing. His missed connection was a third down drop, but it was an otherwise flawless performance over the middle of the field as Bourne filled in for George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings. The Niners now have 10 days to get (much) healthier for Week 6 against the Bucs, but Bourne could end up maintaining some WR4 fill-in appeal for that one.

Bourne had 38 snaps, just ahead of an injured Ricky Pearsall for second on the team, and he would manage to drop three passes on four targets while generating one yard after the catch on his completion. So uh, those are definitely numbers. Not good ones, but numbers nonetheless. Bourne could conceivably have PPR scam relevancy next week if the higher-tier members of the 49ers receiving room remain out, but there’s not much unexplored upside here.