The San Francisco 49ers will have some new faces emerge in the wide receiver room during the 2025 season.  

This offseason, the San Francisco 49ers traded wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders. The team already knew it needed some young guys to step up in 2025, and that’s especially the case now with Jauan Jennings’ future uncertain after his recent demand for a new contract.

Fortunately, the Niners do have a couple of promising young wideouts who can help the team return to contender status.

Of course, 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall is atop that list, but he wasn’t the young wideout named as a potential breakout star in a recent piece by The Athletic.

With NFL reporters highlighting a guy from all 32 teams that could make their name known in 2025, Vic Tafur pointed to receiver Jacob Cowing as a likely breakout player for San Francisco.

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Jacob Cowing named a breakout candidate for 49ers

Like Pearsall, Cowing was drafted by the team last year, but in the fourth round. However, he still appeared in 15 games, catching just four passes for 80 yards. His biggest impact came in the return game, though, with 28 punt returns for 245 yards.

Tafur admitted Pearsall would’ve been the obvious answer, but wanted to highlight Cowing instead, who will likely jump into Deebo Samuel’s former role:

“So give us Cowing, the 5-foot-8, second-year player with 4.3 speed who could take a lot of the departed Deebo Samuel’s gadget plays.
The 49ers like his toughness, speed and nose for yards after the catch. Cowing added more weight in the offseason to his once 168-pound frame to handle sweeps and other running plays, and he joined Pearsall to train with quarterback Brock Purdy in Jacksonville and Arizona. He looked sharp at offseason workouts and, with Brandon Aiyuk still sidelined, could carve out an important role at training camp.”

Vic Tafur (The Athletic)

As highlighted, Cowing can fly. If he can consistently flash his speed and return skills with the ball in his hands on offense, he will definitely have a big role in the offense. That would set him up for the kind of breakout season Tafur is envisioning, and it would also work wonders for the offense.

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San Francisco desperately needs to get back on track this season, and while the team made sure to retain most of its core stars, the 49ers need some emerging talent on both sides of the ball.

Cowing could be one of those players on offense.