Through the first four weeks of the season, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was 11th in the NFL in receiving yards and first downs, despite having six fewer targets than every receiver listed above him. In most instances, the player had at least ten more targets than Pearsall.
It looked as though Pearsall was turning into a budding star and would go back and forth all season with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Malik Nabers as the best up-and-coming wideouts in the game. Instead, Nabers was lost for the season. Pearsall would miss the next six games with a PCL injury.
Kyle Shanahan was tasked with replacing 20.5 yards per reception. Pearsall was a walking, explosive play pre-injury. During the first month of the season, Pearsall was tied with Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Emeka Egbuka for the most receptions of 20+ yards in the NFL with five. From Weeks 5 to 13, Mac Jones and Brock Purdy combined for eight completions of 20+ yards.
Pearsall went from averaging 20 yards per reception to failing to reach 20 yards in either of the three games he’s played in since. Offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said, “It’s circumstantial. I think every game’s different. I think you go back, the Arizona game, I think was his first game back, and we targeted him a lot, and there was coverage that dictated where the ball went.”
Pearsall finished Week 11 with two targets, one reception, and zero yards. The reception came on a screen pass. That does not mean Pearsall wasn’t getting open.
Pearsall saw his targets double in Week 12 against the Panthers. However, the production still lacked in the box score. He finished with six yards.
Kubiak said, “I think Carolina, we did target him a handful of times and Brock missed a few throws on a couple, and we got into a situation where we were trying to run the ball in the fourth quarter.”
Pearsall was targeted on two of Purdy’s interceptions against the Panthers, both of which Shanahan chalked up to “poor throws.” It was a game where Pearsall could’ve easily finished with over 80 yards.
The Browns game was a difficult matchup with unfavorable conditions and a stingy cornerback in Denzel Ward. Kubiak said, “Then, the Cleveland game, there weren’t many ops, and he did take advantage of some of his ops in that game where he beat man-coverage a few times, and he made some big plays.”
Pearsall got the best of Tyson Campbell in the two-minute drill. He won a couple of other times, but life wasn’t easy against Ward.
Kubiak continued under the belief that Pearsall isn’t doing anything wrong: “So it’s situational. Ricky’s not doing a thing wrong. He’s practicing his butt off, he’s competing, he looks good. And that’s football sometimes. That’s the life of a receiver. Sometimes the ball comes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. And just keep your head down, keep playing, and good things tend to happen. So that’s the plan.”
The Titans are near the bottom of the league in yards per play, points per drive, and explosive play rate allowed. If there were ever a bounce-back spot for Pearsall, it’s against a defense that just allowed Shedeur Sanders to thrive at the intermediate and deep levels of the field.
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