49ers rookie wide receiver Danny Gray is fast. His 4.33 40-yard dash at the NFL combine matches what shows on tape. There aren’t many players on the field that are going to track him down if he’s given even a sliver of space. That speed should help the 49ers right away, but. Gray’s college coach at Southern Methodist, Sonny Dykes, believes he hasn’t even come into his own yet as a wide receiver. That’s good news for San Francisco.
Dykes told the Athletic’s Matt Barrows in a terrific story about Gray’s upbringing that the receiver’s alternate path through school left him short of some development in college.
“We only had him for two years at SMU and he’s just scratching the surface,” Dykes told Barrows. “He can become a much better player than he was for us.”
Gray was delayed a year going into his schooling, which forced him to sit out his final year of high school football before spending two years in community college before finally transferring to SMU where he played his final two college seasons.
He was very productive for the Mustangs with 82 catches for 1,251 yards and 13 touchdowns in 18 games. The idea that a player that productive is only scratching the surface at his position has to be enticing for the 49ers. It’s also likely a big reason they selected him with their second pick of the third round.
Dykes also told Barrows that Gray’s upbringing and path to the NFL have made given him more of a physical edge than typical speed merchant receivers.
That’s something worth watching throughout camp as Gray starts finding his role in the 49ers’ offense. That 4.33 speed is great, but simply being fast won’t be enough to consistently play for head coach Kyle Shanahan. Gray will need to be able to block and run multiple routes from multiple spots on the field.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Gray’s rookie season is spent more on development than it is on-field production. If Dykes is right though and Gray is just getting started as a pass catcher, the future is extremely bright for him in San Francisco.
