Most notable are the adds of the veteran constant Evans, a likely future Hall of Famer, and the unknown of second-round pick Stribling.
Evans made the choice to join the 49ers over remaining with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and offers a proven talent the likes of which Purdy has never played with, all due respect to Aiyuk, Samuel and Jennings.
Evans has gone to six Pro Bowls and accumulated 11 1,000-yard seasons to start his career. Aiyuk, Samuel and Jennings have a combined one Pro Bowl and three 1,000-yard campaigns.
“He’s been awesome,” Purdy said of Evans. “Obviously, just what he’s done in his career, he’s a Hall of Famer, 1,000-yard seasons really year after year his whole career. He’s won a Super Bowl. Just like being around him and his presence and understanding, you know, what it’s going to take to play with him. And just like honestly like the good pressure that it brings like alright, ‘I have a guy that is demanding success and demanding to be great’ and I love that. I want to play with guys like that. Obviously, I’ve played with guys like that, George [Kittle] and Christian [McCaffrey] and all that. But to bring Mike in the fold now and be able to have a big target like he is, but how he sees the game and him breaking down routes that he’s run with Tom [Brady] and Baker Mayfield and I’m like ‘alright like this guy knows ball.’ So, I’m really excited and as we go we’re just going to continue to build chemistry and it’s going to be good.”
Stribling brings with him the promise that is emblematic of how Purdy views his WR options as a whole.
“Stribling’s a guy that same thing like has a lot of raw talent and just throwing routes on air and stuff to him, getting a feel for how he moves and his speed,” Purdy said. “He’s a guy that, you know, once we obviously get him in the playbook a lot and get reps with each other on the field. I feel like he’s going to be a guy that can come in and make an instant impact. So, Kyle [Shanahan] and Hank [49ers passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson] have done a really good job with just developing receivers and stuff. So, to have him in the fold with the great receiving corps that we have right now, it’s just amazing as a quarterback. I’m like, ‘let’s go.’”
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