The short answer is no. The longer answer is below.
Second-year wide receiver Dante Pettis is under an enormous amount of pressure to perform up to his potential this year after turning in a decent rookie season, during which he played in 12 games and was the 49ers' best wide receiver overall. Pettis enters the 2019 season at worst the 2nd receiver on the depth chart. He's started every preseason game so far as the Z receiver, and has played some of the X as well as the slot too.
Since training camp began last month, head coach Kyle Shanahan has been vocal in his criticism of Pettis in response to why the receiver was on the field in the 4th quarter of the third preseason game against the Chiefs, "I believe he needed to be. He's still trying to earn a role on this team and show what he's capable of doing, consistently."
Strong words for a guy who tied for the team lead in total receiving touchdowns last season and who averaged over 17 yards per catch. Nonetheless, the overreaction by fans is a double-edged sword, and misplaced. First, fans wanted Shanahan to take a more hardline approach to calling players out and not coddling them. Then when he does, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative and ranging from "He's overrated!" to "They should just cut him!" because they don't think he's "tough enough" or isn't "willing to take a hit" or "won't go over the middle."
The criticisms are hollow. First, if Pettis is anything like he was last season, as I detailed here and here for 49ersWebzone, then there is no reason to worry. Second, I believe Shanahan is using this as a motivational tactic to get the most out of him. But I also think that it's a futile exercise. Pettis is who he is, and when it comes to his on-field performance, the second-year receiver should've gotten more credit for his play this preseason than he currently has. But don't take my word for it, let the tape show you.
Separation
Pettis started this preseason right where he left off last season with his ability to separate. Pettis uses a combination of footwork, upper torso movement, and hand fighting techniques to win separation at the line of scrimmage and that has been on display thus far in preseason.
Pettis is spread out far right as the outside receiver running the outside slant on the all slants concept that Shanahan calls "Lion".
Pettis releases off the line against man coverage by winning with a "4-step" technique that doesn't allow the defender to get his hands on him and jam him. The defender attempts to grab him as Pettis runs by on the quick slant and although the defender recovers, Pettis wins the release with inside leverage in case the ball is thrown to him. He doesn't get the pass but it shows he's still able to win his releases with some nuance.
Pettis also had no trouble getting separation in the slot. Pettis is running a "lookie" option where he has the choice to run a slant or break out depending on the defender's leverage.
A "lookie" route is a quick three-step slant and cut to the inside and this is the route that Pettis is running from the right slot. The coaching point on this is to do anything the receiver can to cross the face of the defender to the inside. If the receiver gets cut off, he is taught to break the route off to the outside.
Utilizing a "dead leg" release, Pettis extends his first step in the direction of the defender's outside shoulder, but quickly cuts back underneath on the "lookie" slant when the defender steps outside. He's open for what would be a nice gain but the pass is batted down at the line of scrimmage.
A couple of times this preseason, Pettis drew defensive penalties against the opposition because of his ability to confuse defenders and create separation.
Against Dallas in preseason week one, Pettis is running against man coverage here and running a dig across the middle. The defender grabs Pettis and holds him down the length of his stem down the seam before Pettis throws on the brakes and cuts across the field. He uses his forearm to shed the defender as he cuts across and the defender is left stumbling.
Missed opportunities
When the quarterbacks were throwing the ball to Pettis, the majority of them were being batted down or not being thrown at all.
Running a deep cross here, Pettis releases and gets inside the defender on the deep crossing route as Mullens executes the play fake. Mullens' fake was was anything but a fake and the Dallas linebackers hardly bite on the run action. Jaylon Smith turns and locates Pettis on the deep cross and cuts off the throwing lane as Mullens looks for Pettis. Mullens ultimately checks it down to the tight end Levine Toilolo who ultimately drops it.
The 49ers came right back to Pettis on a play-action naked bootleg second quarter against Dallas.
Mullens again barely sells the play-action fake and the linebackers get back into their pass zones. His pass is deflected as he looks to hit Pettis wide open on the deep cross for what would've been a huge gain.
Pettis played late into the game against the Chiefs as mentioned earlier and the offense missed an opportunity again for a big gain.
He quickly eats the cushion of the defender who is playing off coverage. He gets inside leverage and cuts off the defender's feet. The defender wraps him around the waist as he's cutting and Pettis lunges for the pass but it's too far out in front for him to make a play. The defender gets flagged for a pass interference anyway.
Against Denver, Pettis misses another opportunity for a big play when Garoppolo made the wrong read and nearly ended his drive with a pick-six.
Pettis motions into a stack look before the snap and releases down the seam running the flag route in this concept. In this concept, underneath him the receiver is running a stick china where he runs up, cuts out and pivots back inside.
The corner squats on the route and leaves Pettis one-on-one on the flag route with a safety in the middle of the field who would not be able to cover the route. The defender on Pettis is in trail. Garoppolo reads the combo and feels pressure and hurries the throw. Had he shuffled up in the pocket one or two steps he could have hit Pettis near the sideline.
Unfortunately, Pettis has not had the kind of production you'd want to see in a receiver in his second year and one who figures to feature prominently in the 49ers offense, but largely it was due to circumstances out of his control as seen above.
When he did have the opportunity to make catches, he shows how he can be a significant factor in whether or not this offense moves the ball. On the deep out route here, he gets open and makes a difficult adjustment on a pass that's behind him. He takes the hit (remember people said he doesn't like to get hit?) and holds onto the pass as he goes to the ground out of bounds.
Area of improvement?
One thing Shanahan noted was that Pettis needed to be more aggressive when the ball is in the air.
Per The Athletic's Matt Barrows (subscription required) Shanahan said "You shouldn't throw into triple coverage in that situation. We were fortunate not to have a pick. I'd like Dante to go up and try to make more of an attempt to catch it. But that's a ball that never should leave his hand." The play he's referring to was a pass from Garoppolo to Pettis in the 2nd quarter with the 49ers threatening on an eventual scoring drive.
Garoppolo heaved a pass to the goal line where Pettis was waiting with three defenders lurking in the area. Chiefs defensive back Rashad Fenton goes up and over Pettis to knock the ball away. Could Pettis have made more of an attempt to go up and catch a contested pass? Absolutely. But it's not a pass the quarterback should have thrown anyways and it's not indicative of the type of player Pettis is overall.
Outlook
I don't think we need to worry about Pettis this season. As far as what to make of Shanahan's comments regarding the receiver, I don't think we should read too much into them. He's likely choosing his words carefully (albeit bluntly) in an attempt to motivate a guy who's already earned the right to take the first-team reps in practice and in preseason games. But the 49ers have an incredibly young receiver room where most guys are either rookies or second-year players.
If Pettis is anything like he was last season, then all this is for nothing and the overreaction is unwarranted. But Pettis isn't going anywhere and fans should not be worried about whether or not he produces this season with Jimmy Garoppolo back as the starting quarterback.
