As a rookie, 49ers wide receiver Victor Bolden Jr. didn’t catch a single pass. But his speed and performance in exhibition games last summer showed the potential he has as a return specialist.
The former Oregon State standout, a 5-foot-8, 173-pounder, returned both a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in the 2017 exhibition season. Then, in the regular season, Bolden averaged 20.8 yards on 19 kickoffs and 5.8 yards on four punt returns.
But his place on the 2018 roster wasn’t a sure thing. This offseason, the 49ers drafted wide receiver-return star Dante Pettis out of Washington in the second round and Richie James of Middle Tennessee State in the seventh. So, Bolden faces stiff competition to earn a wide receiver slot against the likes of Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor, Pettis, James, Aldrick Robinson, Kendrick Bourne, Max McCaffrey and Aaron Burbridge.
Now he faces another hurdle after being suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Bolden, in a statement released by the 49ers, said he unknowingly ingested a banned substance that was in a supplement.
Said Bolden: “As a professional athlete, I take full responsibility for not verifying the ingredients of the supplement. In the future I will be much better educated when choosing what to put in my body. It hurts to know that I will not be on the field with my team for the first four games of the season.”
As Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com noted, Bolden is eligible to participate through all the team’s practices and exhibition games through the spring and summer. He would be able to be activated for the regular season on Monday, Oct. 1.
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First, however, he’ll have to show the 49ers that he’s good enough to earn a spot on the roster through his work on and off the field through August.
The competition to return punts and kickoffs also will be deep. At organized team activities recently, Bolden has been one of four players returning punts, along with Pettis, James and rookie defensive back D.J. Reed.
General manager John Lynch said in the statement that Bolden is “disappointed” but knows he must take responsibility for the substance he took and must be more careful.
