Lots of turnover, turmoil and trouble in San Francisco this offseason. I know we have some diehard 49ers fans and I'm not going to rip the team or anything, but it's hard to say they'd be pleased with some of the developments.
Deebo Samuel was traded, which is fine in and of itself, but they couldn't have foreseen the additional occurrences that have ravaged their wide receiver corps. Brandon Aiyuk still recovering from last year's injury, promising looking rookie fourth-rounder Jordan Watkins hurt, and now the Jauan Jennings mess.
Jennings has been dealing with a calf injury, and he's also looking for a new contract. With things not moving quickly on the latter discussions (or the injury front), the team might be placing him on IR, costing him at least the first four games.
As an aside, I often side with players in contract disputes. But with Jennings, when I first heard of this situation, it felt like he'd just signed a new deal recently. Indeed, Jennings got a new two-year extension just last summer. He went out and had his best season, which is great. But for things to be this apparently acrimonious just one year after he received a new deal...it seems too soon.
Anyway, if Jennings winds up on IR, or his calf doesn't heal, San Francisco is looking at Ricky Pearsall as its No. 1 wideout. (There's also Demarcus Robinson, but he's suspended the first three games. And nothing special.) And maybe they are anyway; he might be better than Jennings. He was drafted in the first round, after all, and was really good when he started a year ago.
As for this preseason, he appeared in one game, at Las Vegas, catching 3 passes for 42 yards. On just 9 snaps.
Last year, Pearsall started all of four games (his season delayed, most will recall, by being shot during a robbery attempt in the offseason). Those four games, which included the last two games of the season, like his cameo appearance this preseason, were really good.
Granted, this is a small sample set. But accepting that, consider that Pearsall scored in three of those contests, averaging 5.5 catches and 80 receiving yards. He added another 45 yards on runs. Samuel and Jennings were around for those games. Now, he looks likely to be the top wideout, at least early on.
| PEARSALL STARTS, 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Tgt | No | Rec | TD |
| Dall. | 4 | 4 | 38 | 0 |
| at T.B. | 6 | 4 | 73 | 1 |
| Det. | 10 | 8 | 141 | 1 |
| at Ari. | 8 | 6 | 69 | 1 |
Pearsall played in seven other games last season (as a reserve). In three of them he didn't catch a pass, operating as no better than the No. 3 (and the 49ers still have George Kittle). And Christian McCaffrey is around to catch some passes.
But Pearsall did enough with his starting opportunities to think he'll be productive as one of the top 2 WRs this season. And if Jennings misses time, which it kind of seems like he will, he could be even better.
--Andy Richardson