How first-round pick Ricky Pearsall fits into 49ers’ loaded WR room

Jon Becktold coached new San Francisco 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall at Corona Del Sol High in the Phoenix area, getting an up-close view of the first-round pick’s mental toughness, character and athleticism. 

Becktold arrived at the start of Pearsall’s junior season and the team finished 1-9 and 2-8 the next two years. But the explosive receiver never transferred to a more successful program.

“He could have left after his junior year,” Becktold said. “We sucked. He knew that and he stayed there. He was loyal all the way through.” 

Pearsall did benefit, as Becktold changed from a run-first, I-formation scheme to a spread offense to take advantage of the best athlete in the school. Pearsall posted a state-record 342-yard receiving performance his junior season, including 14 grabs and five touchdowns in a loss against Gilbert High.

Becktold compares Pearsall’s dynamic skill set — which he demonstrated at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 4.41-second 40-yard time and 42-inch vertical jump — to the athleticism and toughness of Julian Edelman, who played 11 years for the Patriots. 

“He’s a freak athlete,” Becktold said. “He’s very physical. Not too many people tried to press him because he’s very strong and very fast. He’s not backing away from anything. He understands it’s tackle football, and it’s not 7-on-7 and flag.” 

Pearsall’s physicality, explosiveness and toughness are some of the reasons San Francisco selected him at No. 31 overall. Amid speculation that the 49ers might trade Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel during the draft, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan grabbed the do-everything Pearsall at the end of the first round.

Afterward, the Niners tried to squash rampant rumors that Aiyuk and Samuel are still available.

“I’m doing everything in my power to keep this roster together,” Lynch said on “The Pat McAfee Show” this week. “During the course of drafts and offseasons, do conversations happen? Absolutely they do. We’re past that now.”  

Lynch acknowledged the organization’s policy to never close a door on a trade and that he would always listen. However, Lynch said the team wasn’t close on any trades during the first day of the draft. 

[READ MORE: 49ers GM John Lynch: ‘We’re past’ Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel trade talks]

Samuel is entering the second year of a three-year contract worth $71.5 million. Aiyuk wants a new deal that will pay him among the top receivers in the league, upward of $25 million annually. He is scheduled to make $14.1 million in 2024 under the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. 

With Aiyuk and Samuel expected to stay at least for the 2024 season, along with third receiver Jauan Jennings, tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey, where will the targets come for Pearsall?

“It’s just adding to the arsenal really of all the weapons that they have, and have an explosive offense become that much more explosive,” Pearsall said. “I don’t really know exactly where they’re going to have me playing, or how they are going to utilize me. But I know they’re going to put me in the right position to excel and make the right plays. So I’m really excited and look forward to doing that for this program.”

Pearsall becomes insurance for the oft-injured Samuel and gives the 49ers someone in-house already familiar with their system when they must make decisions on the makeup of the receiver room after the 2024 season.

Since Samuel joined the 49ers in 2019, the team is 53-23 (including postseason) in games he has played and 8-9 in games he hasn’t played. The 49ers lost both games he missed during the regular season in 2023. 

“We believe we have a very strong group there, and we wanted to add another player,” Lynch said. “Ricky also has some punt return value that we think will come in handy. We just felt like it was the right guy at the right time and are really excited about it.” 

Pearsall is a polished route-runner with sure hands who can play all three wide receiver positions and return punts. In three seasons at Arizona State and two at Florida, he saw 62% of his production come from the slot. Pearsall earned the nickname “Slick Rick” in college because of his ability to shake free from defenders. 

At Arizona State, he played one season with Aiyuk, who reportedly texted Lynch and Shanahan after Pearsall’s selection: “Fire pick. Can’t lie.” 

“He just plays the position really well,” Shanahan said. “Whether it was outside, inside — all three [receiver] 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 would call it a gym rat, because you can just see that he’s worked on his routes.”

Shanahan said there’s nothing Pearsall can’t do, and he’ll fit into whatever role the team needs based on the other guys in the room.

“There’s not one play that he turns down,” Shanahan said. “He’s going to go over the middle and do everything to catch that ball and not worry about anything else. When he’s on the sidelines, he’s not taking the easy way out. He makes guys tackle him. He’s not looking for a place to fall. And when he doesn’t have the ball, he plays just as hard when the ball’s not in his hands.”

FOX Sports NFL analyst Bucky Brooks says Pearsall gives San Francisco another receiver who can win against man coverage, something the 49ers struggled against in their overtime Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

“I think this is Kyle Shanahan’s reply to the way teams were playing them,” Brooks said on the “Move the Sticks” podcast. “I felt like the San Francisco 49ers had playmakers, not route-runners. And in games where teams were able to play man-to-man, they had problems getting away. In the Super Bowl, they couldn’t get away from the corners, when you couldn’t use the threat of play-action and those things.

“And even though Brandon Aiyuk is a much better route-runner in my mind than Deebo Samuel, they still needed someone that can get open and win those one-on-ones. Ricky Pearsall is a dynamic route-runner. He is terrific at working and creating separation from defenders at the top of routes. He’s a fantastic ball-catcher. He’s a playmaker when he gets it on the move. So he does all the things that the 49ers require their receivers to do, but I think he’s an upper echelon route-runner.”

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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