The San Francisco 49ers haven’t had their 2024 first-round pick in a month. Despite missing the previous four games, Ricky Pearsall is still 29th in total EPA among all wide receivers and seventh in DVOA.
Pearsall bailed out the 49ers’ offense when they were stagnant. They haven’t had the same luxury in October. Not having a big-play threat or a go-to guy is one of the primary reasons the 49ers have looked lackluster offensively. Pearsall has as many 20+ yard receptions as A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Zay Flowers, and Marvin Harrison Jr. He was at the top of that leaderboard before he went down with an injury.
Pearsall was initially expected to miss a game or two. We can rule out the team expecting Pearsall to miss four games, or else they would have put him on the Injured Reserve and not waste a roster spot.
On KNBR Thursday morning, general manager John Lynch said, “What I can tell you is those PCL injuries, that seem to be the injury of the Niners this year, and they can be very stubborn. I had one during my career, and they can linger a little. It’s an injury Puka Nacua had, I think a year ago, and it lasted some weeks.”
For clarity, “some weeks” for Nacua was Week 2 through Week 7. That’s six games. Lynch continued:
“Ricky’s doing his best to get back. He’s making steady progress. He plays a position — there’s other positions where maybe you can play, not being at full speed. Receiver’s a position you better be at full speed and have the ability to get in and out of breaks. And so, Ricky’s doing a great job with the rehab. I can tell you that there’s been some positive progress, but he’s not quite there yet. Now, can he get there by Sunday? We’ll see. But such a good football player. We’re surely missing him.”
If Pearsall isn’t 100 percent, it makes little sense for him to push it on the road against the New York Giants. If you cannot beat the Giants without Pearsall, the 49ers have bigger problems to deal with. Of course, having your big-play threat will help. But you also have a home game against the Rams and another pivotal divisional matchup the following week against the Cardinals. Those are the teams you’ll need a WR1 against. The ones who know you.
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