Earlier this season, Jordan Watkins went to meet with Kyle Shanahan, the second-year wide receiver desperate for advice as to how to earn more snaps on a team bursting with more experienced offensive playmakers.
After an injury-disrupted rookie season in which he played a minimal role, Watkins having any kind of significant impact this season looked unlikely heading into the 2026 season following the 49ers’ offseason additions at wideout.
But on Sunday, as the 49ers faced their former Bay Area rivals
the Las Vegas Raiders, Watkins was able to celebrate his first career touchdown after bringing down a 37-yard strike from Brock Purdy. That was the final touchdown of a 38-17 win for San Francisco that improved their record to 7-1, the best in the NFL heading into Monday Night Football, and ensured Watkins finished the game as the Niners’ leading receiver with 86 yards.
The career day enjoyed by Watkins, which followed an extremely encouraging showing against the Atlanta Falcons before the bye in which he had a would-be touchdown overturned on review, was in large part a product of circumstance.
The 49ers’ slew of injures at wide receiver, with Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel still out and Christian Kirk heading back to IR with a knee injury this week, have catapulted Watkins up the depth chart.
As such, a greater role for Watkins was inevitable. However, his success versus Las Vegas was also a victory for the persistence that has underpinned what is now looking set to be a season of significant progress for the former fourth-round pick, and Watkins’ chemistry with his quarterback.
Watkins was ruled to have failed to survive the ground while leaping to make a fourth-quarter touchdown grab against the Falcons, and that disappointment fueled his desire to make sure there was no repeat as he got a step on his defender while breaking back to the middle of the field on his deep route to end the game with the Raiders as a meaningful contest.
“Obviously, two weeks ago at the ATL game, he [Purdy] gave me another op and I felt like that close to coming down with the play. So for him to go out there and trust me again, to come down with the play, it’s awesome,” Watkins told reporters.
“It could have been PI, but whatever. You know, my job is to come down with the football. If the quarterback puts it up there, come down with the ball. That’s what I did.
“I was making sure that the ball wasn’t going to move on that one. I promise you that.”
This season, Watkins has been targeted 13 times, making 10 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating when targeted is 111.9, with two of the incompletions to his name close calls in Atlanta on which he was ruled not to have maintained the process of the catch.
For Watkins, those numbers and the targets that have come his way over the last two games represent a hugely positive consequence of his earlier discussion with Shanahan, and are reflective of the increasing faith both head coach and quarterback have in his abilities.
“Going back to that week to where I did talk to Kyle, you know, for me, that was kind of, I wouldn’t say rock bottom, but almost for me,” he explained. “To be a drafted guy, to be able to not be out there to help my brothers win, just took a step back a little bit and to be able to talk to Kyle.
“I feel like over these last couple of weeks, you can see it, being more involved in the offense and him being the play-caller and calling my number and then Brock being able to trust me to go in there and make the throw and for me to come down with the catch. These past couple of weeks, seeing the trust from Kyle is starting to grow. I’m super grateful.
“Me and Brock have been working all offseason leading up to this moment. So, you know, like I said, I was that close two weeks ago. And then, you know, he put it up there again. I was able to come down with it. I’m just super grateful, super blessed to be able to be put in that position. We got a lot of couple guys coming back in a couple weeks. So we’ll see if I still have the same opportunity, but my job is to go out there and perform.”
There can be no argument that Watkins has performed over the last two weeks, with the persistence he showed in pressing Shanahan for answers, and in fine-tuning his rapport with Purdy paying huge dividends as he played a pivotal role in the 49ers getting back to winning ways.
It is likely that Watkins will fall down the depth chart when Evans and Samuel return to the field but, through his desire to learn from his minor errors against the Falcons and his play when he does not have the ball, the former Ole Miss wideout has earned the opportunities that Purdy indicated will continue to come his way down the stretch.
“I’m really excited for him,” Purdy said when asked about Watkins’ ascension. “Obviously more opportunities, more targets with some guys that have sort of been hurt. But regardless, I think he’s always sort of been getting ready since he’s been here.
“I think something that’s cool too is the way he run blocks. He goes in there and he just shows that he’s down for the team. He’s down for the offense, whatever he needs to do when his number’s called. And then that sort of bleeds into him being reliable in the pass game and giving him opportunities with that. Like I’ve said, I think he does a great job with creating separation, getting in and out of cuts, coming down with contested catches.
“So yeah, my trust has definitely grown in him more and more. And I’m excited to see what the rest of the season looks like playing with him.”
