The 49ers have one of the best receiving tandems in the league, but they took another wide receiver at the end of the first round anyway. Financially, it will be tough to keep Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel together, so it made sense to bring in a potential replacement. If they’ve got Ricky Pearsall scouted properly, I expect he’ll be starting in Week 1 next year. Maybe sooner.
Aiyuk, after all, is embroiled in a contract dispute with the team, while Samuel’s physical style of play results in him picking up more injuries than others at the position.
With that in mind, I took a look at all of Pearsall’s targets from the 2023 season. They’re all available on YouTube, courtesy of Adrian Sienko. Looking at all 94 of Pearsall’s targets consecutively allows you to get a general sense of how he was used at Florida, and how that might translate to the pros.
Pearsall, you may recall, had arguably the Catch of The Year – a leaping, back-handed job with one hand that went for 27 yards. I can recall seeing only one other receiver make such a catch (with the hand flipped backwards) – Anquan Boldin at Seattle long ago. Grade down the catch a notch, if you wish, for it coming in a throwaway laugher against Charlotte.
Pearsall’s most impressive game was instead at South Carolina. In that one, he had a Willie Mays’ style catch, making a late adjustment to catch it over the other shoulder for 26 yards. On the game-winning drive in that game, he converted a fourth-and-long with a 25-yard catch that was somewhat contested, then caught the game-winning touchdown with 47 seconds left.
While Pearsall had a couple of notable catches, I wouldn’t say his hands are unusually good. He had 2 pure drops by my count, plus 5 others that might be called partial drops (2 in contested situations, and 3 where the throw wasn’t ideal).
Two big errors that I saw. After a short catch against Arkansas, he had the ball ripped out of his hands for a touchdown going the other way. And at Utah, one of his true drops resulted in an interception setting up the Utes near Florida’s goal line.
Most of Pearsall’s catches were of the short variety. By my count, I saw 21 catches behind the line of scrimmage, and 18 were short, underneath receptions. I did not see notable after-the-catch ability in those situations. He averaged just over 6 yards per catch on those 39 receptions, and with no touchdowns. (I do not envision Pearsall ever developing into a Deebo-type weapon who’s terrorizing defenses once the ball is in his hands).
Pearsall was reasonably effective with his longer balls. On what I will call “medium” passes, he caught 18 of 24 attempts, for 352 yards. And I have him at 11 of 21 on “long” balls, for 340 yards, with all 4 of his touchdowns. But that’s just ball-parking it (I didn’t specifically define “medium” and “long” – I just went by what they felt like.
In the chart below, “BLOS” = behind the line of scrimmage. Yardage figures are my own estimates rather than the official numbers.
| PEARSALL BY TARGET DEPTH | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Range | Tgt | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| BLOS | 25 | 21 | 141 | 6.7 | 0 |
| short | 24 | 18 | 104 | 5.8 | 0 |
| medium | 24 | 18 | 352 | 19.6 | 0 |
| long | 21 | 11 | 340 | 30.9 | 4 |
| Total | 94 | 65 | 965 | 14.8 | 4 |
The 49ers selected Pearsall in the first round. He has that going for him. They wouldn’t have drafted him if they didn’t have some belief he’ll develop into an starter. But he doesn’t seem like anything special to me.
I guess he did a reasonable job of getting open on short routes, but I don’t think he’s anything special after the catch.
I don’t think see him as particularly likely to excel in contested ball situations. Especially around the goal line. He didn’t catch any short touchdowns last year. I recall seeing a couple of fade route misses, along with a goal-line screen where he was stopped. (As a reminder, the 49ers hardly used Deebo and Aiyuk as pass-catchers inside the 10 last year.)
While Pearsall averaged 31 yards on his 11 long-ball connections last year, he doesn’t seem like a deep-ball guy to me. He looked pretty comfortably smothered on a couple of long attempts against Georgia. I wouldn’t think he’ll be turning into another Aiyuk in a year or two. His measurables are pretty ordinary. At the Combine, he measured 6-foot-1 and 189 pounds, and ran 4.41.
I will respect that the 49ers are hopeful he’ll develop into something. That makes Pearsall a guy worth drafting in a dynasty format – maybe he develops into something in 2025 or 2026. But without having much confidence that will actually happen, I would be inclined to look elsewhere, letting somebody else grab Pearsall.
With Jauan Jennings having played well at times, I’m not confident Pearsall will even be San Francisco’s 3rd-best receiver this season.
There were a couple of other wide receivers that were picked just after Pearsall in the early second round: Ladd McConkey and Keon Coleman. I would be inclined to pick both of those guys before Pearsall (definitely for 2024).
My notes are below. I have the targets ordered by depth, with all the behind-the-line-of-scrimmage attempts first, followed by the short, medium and long attempts.
| RICKY PEARSALL'S 2023 PLAYS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Gain | Depth | Note |
| Ark. | • 8 | BLOS | • flat, fumbled (ret for TD) |
| Ark. | inc | BLOS | drop, contested |
| Ark. | 1 | BLOS | open, right flat |
| Ark. | 8 | BLOS | right flat, YAC |
| at Ken. | 9 | BLOS | checkdown to flat |
| at LSU | 7 | BLOS | quick to flat |
| at S.C. | 2 | BLOS | in the flat |
| at Utah | inc | BLOS | drop (behind him) |
| at Utah | 1 | BLOS | pop pass |
| at Utah | 7 | BLOS | quick to flat |
| at Utah | 6 | BLOS | quick to flat |
| at Utah | 12 | BLOS | quick to flat, YAC for 1st down |
| Char. | 9 | BLOS | in the flat |
| Char. | 5 | BLOS | weakside flip |
| Ga. | 20 | BLOS | open, left flat |
| Ga. | 0 | BLOS | pop pass |
| McN. St. | 14 | BLOS | quick to flat, YAC for 1st down |
| Tenn. | inc | BLOS | drop |
| Tenn. | 4 | BLOS | pop pass |
| Tenn. | 8 | BLOS | quick to flat |
| Tenn. | 5 | BLOS | quick to flat |
| Tenn. | 0 | BLOS | quick to flat |
| Tenn. | 8 | BLOS | quick to flat, YAC for 1st down |
| Tenn. | inc | BLOS | traffic, miscommunication |
| Vand. | 7 | BLOS | in the flat |
| Ark. | 4 | short | underneath, middle of field |
| at LSU | 14 | short | open, middle of field |
| at LSU | 10 | short | open, right side |
| at Mo. | 7 | short | crossing route |
| at S.C. | inc | short | drop (sort of) caught by teammate |
| at S.C. | inc | short | fade into end zone, off target |
| at S.C. | 10 | short | open, left sideline |
| at S.C. | 8 | short | settle into middle of field |
| at Utah | • INT | short | drop (bounce up for pick) int |
| at Utah | 7 | short | underneath |
| at Utah | 6 | short | underneath, middle of field |
| Ga. | 2 | short | right sideline |
| McN. St. | inc | short | fade into end zone, contested |
| McN. St. | 7 | short | in the flat |
| McN. St. | 13 | short | in traffic, middle of field |
| Tenn. | 8 | short | underneath |
| Tenn. | 8 | short | underneath |
| Vand. | 7 | short | contested catch |
| Vand. | 7 | short | crossing, first down |
| Vand. | inc | short | off target |
| at Mo. | 39 | RUN | end-around, TD run |
| Ga. | -3 | RUN | end-around |
| Vand. | 9 | RUN | end-around |
| Vand. | 14 | RUN | end-around, TD run |
| Ark. | inc | medium | maybe not intended target |
| at Ken. | 20 | medium | after QB scramble |
| at LSU | inc | medium | high throw |
| at LSU | 9 | medium | leaping catch, first down |
| at LSU | 19 | medium | open, middle of field |
| at LSU | 12 | medium | works back to QB |
| at Mo. | 60 | medium | open, defender falls down |
| at S.C. | 22 | medium | open, left sideline |
| at S.C. | 17 | medium | open, middle of field |
| at S.C. | 17 | medium | open, right sideline |
| at S.C. | 14 | medium | settle into middle of field |
| at Utah | inc | medium | pass into end zone |
| at Utah | 12 | medium | right sideline |
| Char. | 22 | medium | open |
| Char. | 18 | medium | open, middle of field |
| FSU | 16 | medium | contested catch |
| Ga. | inc | medium | contested situation |
| Ga. | 23 | medium | open, crossing route |
| Ga. | 14 | medium | play-action, left sideline |
| McN. St. | inc | medium | drop, high throw |
| McN. St. | 17 | medium | open, flattened after catch |
| McN. St. | 23 | medium | open, right sideline |
| Tenn. | inc | medium | attempted 1-handed catch |
| Vand. | 17 | medium | open, right sideline |
| Ark. | inc | long | deep ball, not open, off target |
| Ark. | inc | long | deep ball, not open, off target |
| Ark. | 32 | long | open, deep, TD |
| at Ken. | inc | long | drop, contested |
| at Ken. | 33 | long | open, YAC, leaps for TD |
| at LSU | 32 | long | leaping catch, contested |
| at Mo. | inc | long | not open, off target |
| at S.C. | 25 | long | 4th-and-long, contested |
| at S.C. | 26 | long | open, Willie Mays catch |
| at S.C. | 21 | long | post route, TD, 47 seconds left |
| at S.C. | inc | long | contested situation |
| at Utah | inc | long | covered, att 1-handed catch |
| at Utah | inc | long | end-zone shot, not there |
| at Utah | 39 | long | right sideline, open |
| Char. | 27 | long | leaping 1-handed catch |
| Char. | 27 | long | right sideline |
| Ga. | inc | long | not open, right sideline |
| Ga. | inc | long | off target, not open |
| Ga. | 28 | long | open, deep down the middle |
| McN. St. | 50 | long | post route, wide open, TD |
| Vand. | inc | long | open, off target |
—Ian Allan