Undrafted Amey to go with 49ers

Mitch McLaughlin

Fred Amey, the most accomplished wide receiver in Sacramento State history, said he agreed to a deal with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday after not being selected in the 2005 NFL Draft over the weekend.

“I have always loved living in California, and having the opportunity to play close to home, where my friends and family can see me play was one of the reasons I decided to sign here,” said Amey, a native of Union City.

As of now, San Francisco doesn’t have much experience at receiver. Brandon Lloyd and Arnaz Battle, who were both drafted by the 49ers in the 2003 draft, are the two most experienced receivers for them and the only other wide receiver to catch a pass in the regular season, their 2004 first-round pick, Rashaun Woods.

“Fred put himself into a good situation by signing with the 49ers,” Sac State coach Steve Mooshagian said. “There isn’t much experience with their receivers and he should have a very good opportunity to either make the roster or the team’s practice squad.”

Amey said he also had offers to sign with New England, Buffalo and Philadelphia after the draft, but he decided on the 49ers since they have the least amount of proven talent at the receiver position.

“Being able to play with No. 1 pick Alex Smith was something that influenced me as well,” Amey said. “There will be a lot of media attention to Smith since he went No. 1 and if I can prove myself, it can only help my chances.”

The 49ers used two of their eleven picks during the two-day draft on wide receivers, but neither had a career like Amey did at the college level.

In the fifth round the 49ers drafted Rasheed Marshall out of West Virginia, who was the starting quarterback the last three years for the Mountaineers. The other receiver drafted by the 49ers on Sunday was Marcus Maxwell of Oregon in the seventh round. Maxwell was the seventh-leading receiver for the Ducks in 2003, but at 6-4 he is much bigger than both Amey and Marshall who are both under 6-foot.

“If Fred can show ability to either return kicks or standout as a special teams player, I would be very surprised if he doesn’t make the team,” Mooshagian said.

Amey did play regularly on all of Sac State’s special teams units during his four-year career.”When I was with Cincinnati, we always had an undrafted rookie make the team in some sort of way, so I expect to see the same from Fred,” Mooshagian said.

Amey does have a few connections in San Francisco through Mooshagian. Mooshagian worked wide receivers’ coach Jerry Sullivan before and he thinks Amey will have an excellent teacher for him at the pro level.

In addition, 49er starting running back Kevan Barlow played under Mooshagian at the University of Pittsburgh when Mooshagian was the offensive coordinator from 1997-98.

“Having Amey this year and (Marko) Cavka last year make it into pro camps shows that our program is going into the right direction. It always looks good having your players get opportunities at the next level,” Mooshagian said.

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Mitch Mclaughlin can be reached at [email protected]