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San Francisco 49ers: Finally a shot for Quinton Patton?

By Kevin Parvizi

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As per FOX Sports’s Ross Jones, the San Francisco 49ers have announced that oft-troubled wide receiver Jerome Simpson, who was signed on a flier-type deal to be a part of the No. 3 wide receiver competition this offseason, has been suspended for the first six games of the 2015 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The USA Today’s Tom Pelissero added some key details about the suspension, including the fact that the 49ers saw this one coming.

The 29-year-old didn’t play last season, but he caught 48 passes for over 700 yards in an explosive 2013 season for the Minnesota Vikings, so Simpson can bring something to the table. His suspension creates a big opportunity for Quinton Patton and Bruce Ellington, the two young wide receivers who were competing with Simpson for the No. 3 gig this offseason.

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Ellington is a jack-of-all-trades player who can make an especially key impact on the 49ers offense in the slot, but Patton has to be the more interesting wideout to track now that Simpson will be out for the first six games of the 2015 season. Earlier this offseason, 49ers wide receivers coach Ronald Curry stated that Patton would get “an opportunity”, adding that the once-touted fourth-round sleeper out of Louisiana Tech “has always flashed” his potential to the organization.

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Opportunities, of course, have been few and far between for a player who is now 25 and heading into the third season of his career with just six receptions. We have no real sample size from which to evaluate Patton, so that alone makes him a big winner in the aftermath of the six-game suspension to Simpson.

Of course, the 49ers aren’t going to hand Patton anything, particularly since they’ve been reluctant enough to give him real chances to show his skills. We heard several times early in the offseason about how Patton has been putting in a good offseason, but things have been awfully quiet on his front. Hopefully that changes now that Simpson will be out of the picture for a chunk of time, because I sure would like to see more from this quick, tough, and fluid wide receiver.

The San Francisco 49ers top three targets in the passing game are locked in with Anquan Boldin functioning as the steady chain-mover, Torrey Smith acting as the explosive deep threat with serious YAC ability, and Vernon Davis poised to bounce back after a dreadful 2014 season that was largely injury-induced. Reggie Bush lurks as the fourth option in the passing game, so the winner of the Ellington vs. Patton competition would be competing for just six games of being Colin Kaepernick‘s fifth target when the team isn’t handing the ball off to Carlos Hyde, Bush, or letting Kaep hold it.

Quinton Patton came into the league in 2013 with plenty of fanfare and positive scouting reports, so it’s high time the 49ers gave him a longer look now that he’s ready for his third season in the NFL. Ellington isn’t short on talent either, but both of these young receivers will have to bring it both in August and during the regular season, especially if the 49ers simply decide to cut ties with Simpson (that might not be the case, since they already knew about his arrest).

It looks like Patton is the perfect candidate to be the underrated, dependable third receiver that this team could use, because now that Kaepernick has his explosive vertical threat in Smith, he can afford to have a fluid mover in Patton to “replace” Michael Crabtree in a lower standing on the depth chart. Simpson brought some more added juice, but Patton could be a much better fit for the 49ers as a No. 3 receiver. He may fail to meet my expectations for him as a draft prospect, but I’d like to see him finally get a fair shot; it looks like now is the time.

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