The San Francisco 49ers claimed wide receiver Tim Patrick off waivers on Monday, and he is quickly getting into the action. He and Louis Murphy are the last two receivers to join the team, and they have a ways to go. Murphy has veteran experience, which can never be underrated. Patrick is a UDFA, but he has immense physical tools. He stands 6’4, 208 pounds, and ran a 4.47 40 at his Pro Day.
While Pro Day 40 times can be kind of a joke, Patrick showed off some solid pad speed on Thursday. 49ers social media man Johnny Volk posted some video of Patrick blowing past Ahkello Witherspoon in a one-on-one drill. We can’t tell who the quarterback is, but he places the pass on a dime for Patrick for the touchdown.
Droppin dimes ‼️#49ersCamp pic.twitter.com/Mp0jN3iXCp
— Johnny Volk (@JohnnyVolk) August 3, 2017
Witherspoon has had a rough camp, but I’d prefer to focus on Patrick at this point. He faced off against some quality Pac-12 cornerbacks this past year, and held his own. Against Washington (Kevin King, Sidney Jones), he had five receptions for 72 yards. Against USC (Adoree Jackson), he had six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. Against Colorado (Chidobe Awuzie), he had five receptions for 78 yards. I don’t know who he was facing throughout each game, but he was putting up solid numbers.
His weaknesses coming out of college were raw route-running, susceptibility to injury (missed 17 games at Utah), and inconsistent focus, according to Lance Zierlein. But it’s easy to be enamored by the ridiculous combination of size and speed he possesses. I don’t know if it’s enough to get him that sixth wide receiver spot, but he could compete for a place on the practice squad, at the very least. I have a hunch he has at least one play this coming preseason where he does something that has people sitting up and saying, “Oh my!”