Ricky Pearsall
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Ricky Pearsall is expected to take a big step forward for the 49ers in Kyle Shanahan's offense next season
The San Francisco 49ers WR room is currently a mess. Brandon Aiyuk is out for at least the first month of the season, Jauan Jennings is injured while trying to negotiate a new contract, Demarcus Robinson is suspended for the first three weeks, and rookie Jordan Watkins is dealing with an ankle injury.
This leaves Ricky Pearsall as the lone member of this receiving group that can be counted entering their Week 1 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, which has one ESPN NFL writer seeing the Florida product as the X factor for the franchise entering the 2025 NFL season.
49ers WR Ricky Pearsall Named ‘X Factor’ for San Francisco Entering 2025 NFL Season
Benjamin Solak of ESPN has faith in Kyle Shanahan’s scheme being one of the more receiver-friendly systems in the league, but admitted that Ricky Pearsall needs to produce with this expanded role in a banged-up WR room.
“On one hand, it feels as if any wideout can succeed in Kyle Shanahan’s offense. On the other hand, the 49ers’ wide receiver room hasn’t been this thin in a while,” wrote Solak. “With Deebo Samuel now on the Commanders and Brandon Aiyuk not expected to return until Week 6 after his complex right knee injury, San Francisco desperately needs Pearsall to immediately shoulder a bigger portion of the offensive pie.”
Pearsall didn’t exactly have a chance to properly prepare ahead of his first season in the NFL after being shot in the chest during an attempted robbery in the middle of his offseason entering his rookie year, but still managed to produce 31 receptions for 400 yards and three scores while operating alongside George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Jauan Jennings after playing just one game with Brandon Aiyuk in 2024.
“Pearsall ended the season strong (14 catches on 18 targets for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the final two games) but was quiet beforehand,” added Solak. “Of course, he was recovering from a gunshot wound for much of training camp. For much of this year’s offseason program, he has been dealing with a hamstring injury. With Jauan Jennings also nursing a calf injury, the 49ers’ wide receiver room is extremely touch and go. San Francisco needs Pearsall to be both healthy and capable of providing that late-season production on a weekly basis if it want its offense to return to its league-leading ways.”
Could Pearsall Secure WR1 Role in San Francisco with a Strong Start to the Season?
If that strong finish continues right into the start of this NFL season, could Pearsall end up leading this WR room in 2025 and beyond? The argument can certainly be made for the answer being yes.
Jennings has just one season worth of noteworthy production. Aiyuk is coming back from a serious knee injury that could see him get off to a slow start once he returns to the field. This could be an audition of sorts for Pearsall operating as the WR1 on this roster for Brock Purdy.
The 49ers invested first-round draft capital in Pearsall with Deebo and Aiyuk on the roster for a reason. Shanahan likely has a vision of exactly what Pearsall is capable of being in this offense.
If Pearsall gets off to a fast start in 2025, there could be no going back to a WR3 role moving forward.