After being held out of action for the first six weeks of the 2024 NFL season, Ricky Pearsall made his triumphant NFL debut for the San Francisco 49ers.
And the results? Well, they were pretty encouraging, with the first-round pick out of Florida catching three of the five balls thrown his way for 21 yards. Pearsall looked like he belonged on the field in a game without Deebo Samuel and eventually Brandon Aiyuk and will be relied on even further now that the latter is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Asked during his Wednesday media session about what kind of role Pearsall could fill moving forward, Kyle Shanahan let it be known that, in his eyes, the collegiate Gator can pretty much do anything from a route-running standpoint.
“I think he’s wired to run every route as a receiver, like most. I think Deebo is the one who is more unique, just in terms of using him as a running back and things like that,” Shanahan told reporters. “But Ricky is a plug-and-play with all routes. It’s not like he has a small route tree and only can do certain things, so he can run the whole tree.”
Interesting stuff, right? Well wait, it gets even better, as Shanahan got even more technical, including which specific positions across the offense he believes Pearsall could fit moving forward.
Kyle Shanahan believes Ricky Pearsall can do-it-all for the 49ers
Digger deeper into where Pearsall fits into the 49ers offense, Shanahan noted that heading into Week 6, he really only wanted him to play one position, but as the game shook out and injuries mounted, he was forced to play all over the field.
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“He hasn’t practiced a lot. He knows how to do it on paper and stuff, but just like everyone, you need a lot more reps to be able to do all three spots. But he did a good job adjusting in the game. He went in the game only playing one spot and a couple injuries happened, just like always,” Shanahan noted.
“So you’ve got to be prepared for next man up and he didn’t have any busts at the new position. So that’s what you always do. You only get five up on game day, sometimes four. We try to get six if we can, roster-wise, if we have some injuries, but that’s how wideouts are. You’ve got specific spots for guys, but someone goes down and you’ve got to roll everyone to the other spots.”
What is Pearsall's best fit at the pro level? Is he a big slot? A traditional X? Or the sort of athletic flanker who moves around before the snap to get an advantage without having to worry about being pressed at the line. While the next few weeks will do plenty to highlight Pearsall's strengths and weaknesses, at least for right now, unless the 49ers get really healthy really quick, they will have to put a big workload on the Florida product's shoulders in the pursuit of playoff glory.
