“With the 31st pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers pick Ricky Pearsall, Wide Receiver, Florida.” WHAT!
With this pick, General Manager John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan successfully blew every 49ers fan’s mind and sent the national media into a frenzy. Wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel immediately became sure to be replaced commodities. And, for the first time in many years, the 49ers fanbase was upset the first-round pick wasn’t used on a defensive or offensive lineman.
When the draft ended and Aiyuk and Samuel were still on the roster, the narrative adjusted to when will the 49ers remove one of their two star receivers from the roster. What if the plan isn’t to replace the 49ers’ top two targets, but rather to partially replace a different key cog in the 49ers’ offensive attack?
A New WR3?
WR3 doesn’t seem like a need with Jauan Jennings playing the star role in the 49ers offense in last year’s Super Bowl. One look at the stats tells us that Jennings isn’t really the 49ers’ WR3. That position is held by tight end George Kittle. Kittle had more receptions (60) than Jennings had targets (33).
Jennings has signed an RFA tender to continue to catch passes from Brock Purdy for one more year, with Lynch saying he’d like to hammer out a long-term deal prior to the draft. Jennings has an important though small role in the 49ers offense and Pearsall’s playing style doesn’t resemble what Jennings brings to the table for the 49ers. Although Pearsall is best working out of the slot, Jennings’ spot in the offense doesn’t seem to be where he will be plugged in.
49ers Forward Thinking
Kittle missed one game last season, with Samuel missing two. With both players’ bruising style of play, it can be assumed that neither one will play a complete season for the rest of their careers. Fans and pundits have started talking about the 49ers’ need to find their next tight end, with Kittle’s injury history and salary cap hits getting bigger every year.
Finding the ‘next’ George Kittle seems a bit impossible. He is a one-of-a-kind athlete and personality. Replacing what he brings to the team with just a single player seems like wishful thinking, although I did think that the 49ers might draft the likes of Jared Wiley out of TCU this past draft, but they didn’t.
What if they plan on replacing that production with two players? Kittle is so incredible because he is not only one of the best pass-catching tight ends, but he is arguably the best blocking tight end in the league. The argument for top tight end in the league seems to always come down to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Kittle.
So what if the 49ers just picked the next Kelce in wide receiver form? That’s what former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III thinks.
Another Step Towards Position-less Football
Kyle Shanahan has continued to preach and strive for position-less football. Always trying to set up the best mismatch on the field, he has utilized Samuel, Kittle, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and running back Christian McCaffrey in multiple ways and multiple positions in the offense. Is the drafting of Pearsall just another step in that direction?
Although Pearsall has nearly primarily lined up in the slot, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see him running jet sweeps or catching screen passes out of the backfield. His run-after-the-catch potential makes him an immediate YAC Brother addition. If these imagined outcomes show up in reality, this first-round pick might not be so puzzling a year from now.
