Things didn’t get off to a great start for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. Mixed reviews came along with the 49ers picking him at No. 31 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. And he suffered a hamstring injury that forced him to miss training camp days.
But things may be turning around. According to the latest updates, Pearsall has a chance to return to practice Monday, per ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
“Yes, he does. It's not guaranteed, but he has a chance,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Pearsall's potential return.
Pearsall is a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder who played at Arizona State and the University of Florida. In five college seasons, he totaled just 2,420 yards with four touchdowns. But he got on the NFL radar with his 2023 season for the Gators, totaling 965 yards and four touchdowns.
How did WR Ricky Pearsall catch the 49ers’ eyes?
After the 2022 college season, Pearsall committed to bulking up. He already had the speed and the ability to run crisp routes, so the extra strength made a difference — especially for a head coach like Shanahan. The 49ers’ boss insists his receivers block for the running game, and Pearsall can fit that mold better in his current frame.
Shanahan told espn.com that Pearsall is a solid football player.
“He just plays the position really well,” Shanahan said. “Whether he was outside, inside, either receiver, all three of the positions, he can separate down the field, he can separate underneath. He's got really good hands, extremely smart, very well-developed. I guess I'd call it a gym rat or something because you can just see he's worked on his routes, put in a lot of hours because you can see it on tape. And there's really nothing he can't do. He can fit in whatever role based off the other guys.”
One thing Pearsall might not be able to do is make a significant impact in 2024. With Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle ahead of him in the pecking order, targets aren’t coming in bunches. Also, the 49ers used 11 personnel — with three wideouts — only 39% of last year’s snaps. The league average is 62%. Yikes. Even further, the 49ers didn’t have a single play with four wideouts on the field.
So it looks like 2024 will be a year to learn for the rookie. But if he does get into a bigger role, 49ers' general manager John Lynch said he expects good things because of Pearsall's toughness.
“The one really impressive thing with Ricky, his highlight tape just kept going and going and going,” Lynch said. “He's an extremely consistent player who makes a lot of plays at a high rate and does so week in, week out. So that's exciting to add a player of that quality.”
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