San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch told the backstory of how the team acquired Keenan Allen on KNBR Thursday morning.
Lynch was watching another Colts receiver with Kyle Shanahan. He explained how focusing on Josh Downs led to a conversation about Allen:
“Our personnel staff does a great job of bringing people to light that may be options. Really, we kind of focused on Josh Downs as an option we’d have some interest in. Kyle and I are kind of watching Josh. And in the process, Kyle’s like,
‘What about Keenan?’ I was like, you know, we haven’t given much thought to that, but like, let me ask about that.
And so, there started a conversation about two and a half weeks ago. Really, when the DeForest talks. And you know, it’s always fluid. At a certain time, they didn’t wanna give up Keenan. It kind of wasn’t going to be on the table. We kept communicating.
Ultimately, we got him. I think it’s a really good fit for us. We wanted to make an ad at receiver. He had a really good first day of practice. It’s just a start. He’ll fit in well. Really pleased to add him.”
The 49ers chose the receiver who could add more to their offense for a better price. When we look back on both trades in a couple of months, don’t be surprised if Allen is the more productive wideout.
Allen will need to get up to speed in a hurry. Grasping the nuances of the 49ers playbook is closer to a 501 course than a 101. Unlike the last time the Niners traded for a veteran wide receiver, Allen didn’t play for a coach in the Shanahan coaching tree.
“I think Emmanuel [Sanders] had an advantage. Rich Scangarello had been their coordinator that year. So there was a lot of familiarity. He had been with us. Keenan doesn’t have that. It’s a struggle I watch install. And our game plans are robust. They’re difficult. And so I sit there and say, ‘My goodness.’ Just aligning in the formations and the motions we have.”
Lynch acknowledged it’ll be a “tough task” to get Allen ready for Sunday. He likened it to the Christian McCaffrey trade, which happened on a Thursday and played a meaningful role the following Sunday.
But that’s at running back. Here’s Shanahan on Wednesday discussing
“Running backs are a lot easier because once you hand them the ball, they can just run. It takes a lot for receivers just getting lined up, knowing all the route tree, hearing the verbiage and everything on how to do it. Sometimes it’s easier. I mean, Emmanuel had a year with an old coach from us, so they had the same terminology for a year, which helped him, but it was still a challenge for him. You’ve got to work at it a ton and you know they can do it physically, but it does take some time to get really comfortable with it.”
Lynch said there were “extra meetings” with Allen on Wednesday, who took his physical at 5:45 am PT. Allen “functioned well” at practice, but it’ll be a “race to Sunday to get him ready.”
Lynch believes the Niners are getting healthier at wide receiver, with Demarcus Robinson returning last week and Deebo Samuel on track to return this Sunday.
Mike Evans is “week to week” with an Achilles injury, according to Shanahan. Lynch didn’t get specific when asked whether Allen was an interim replacement for Evans. “No, we wanted to make an add there. Nonetheless, Stribling went out the first game. We’re hopeful to get him back late in the year. Ricky Pearsall, obviously, went out. You know, Christian Kirk. So, with all those things… that position is a tenuous one. We want to have the ample amount of guys in quantity, and then in quality, as well.”
