Kyle Shanahan gives familiar explanation for excitement over 49ers’ new-look WR room

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan talks to the media during the NFL League Meetings on March 30, 2026, at Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The 49ers’ wide receiver depth chart looks substantially different following free agency, and Kyle Shanahan is clearly confident it is in a much stronger position than in 2025. While the inevitable departure of Brandon Aiyuk is on hold as the 49ers attempt to get something in return for their 2020 first-round pick, the 49ers have seen Kendrick Bourne and Skyy Moore depart for pastures new and predictably allowed Jauan Jennings to walk, though he has not yet been signed by another team.

The two additions have seen San Francisco address the hole left by Aiyuk at X receiver by signing six-time Pro Bowler Mike Evans and bring in veteran Christian Kirk to add a speed element to their passing game. Evans was one of the most dependable receivers in football over the course of his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, while he turns 33 in August and is coming off a broken collarbone, his ball dominance should be a huge asset to the Niners, especially in the red zone, where the 49ers need to take some of the onus off Christian McCaffrey. Kirk was arguably a slightly more curious addition given he only had 239 yards and one touchdown in the 2025 regular season for the Houston Texans.

However, Kirk exploded into life in the postseason, catching eight passes for 144 yards and a score in the wild-card round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers before then finding the endzone again in the divisional round loss to the New England Patriots. And it is that ability to deliver when it counts that forms part of the reason why head coach Kyle Shanahan was so excited to get both Evans and Kirk on the depth chart. “Watching him on film this year, I think he looks like the same guy he’s always looked,” Shanahan said of Kirk.

“Yeah, he had a couple of injuries that set him back, but when he came back from them, he’s the same dude he’s always been. “He competes, he blocks. I love getting, for lack of a better word, ‘men’ at the position, which is guys who’ve done it before, and nothing’s too big for them.