The San Francisco 49ers are currently set at wide receiver with legitimate threats in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.
But Aiyuk is angling for a lucrative contract extension that the team may not be willing or able to give him, and thus there are persistent rumors that it may end up having to trade him.
At the same time, a Samuel trade may become a necessity if Aiyuk does get his extension.
That makes Ricky Pearsall, the Niners’ first-round draft pick, an important figure this coming season, since he would be slated to replace Aiyuk or Samuel if either gets shipped out.
David Lombardi of The Athletic tweeted about an encouraging trend: the fact that rookie wideouts have done well under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Rookie WRs have actually consistently produced under Kyle Shanahan, esp high picks:
-Brandon Aiyuk was on pace for a ~1,000-yard rookie season before he got hurt
-Deebo Samuel put up an 800-yard rookie season
-The best stretch of Dante Pettis’ career came in his rookie year https://t.co/GaHo9OFA6V— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) June 14, 2024
As Lombardi pointed out, Aiyuk, who was the No. 25 pick in the 2020 draft, was producing well as a rookie by averaging 62.3 yards per game, and had he not missed four games, he could’ve reached 1,000 receiving yards if he picked up that average a bit.
In the years before that, Samuel, a second-round pick, went for 802 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns, and three rushing touchdowns.
In 2018, Dante Pettis was a second-round pick by the 49ers, and in 12 games and seven starts, he posted 467 yards and five touchdowns.
Pearsall wasn’t a very prolific player at the University of Florida, but in 2023, he caught 65 passes for 965 yards while scoring six total touchdowns.
He can benefit from having a very good, if not elite, quarterback in Brock Purdy delivering him the ball exactly where it needs to go.
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