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The 49ers' Biggest Potential Under-the-Radar Star

The 49ers have a giant void at wide receiver this season.
Grant Cohn|
November 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) celebrates with wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) against the Seattle Seahawks during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
November 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) celebrates with wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) against the Seattle Seahawks during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers have a giant void at wide receiver this season.

That's because they traded Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders this offseason and Brandon Aiyuk is still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last season. Which means someone under the radar will have the opportunity to step up and become a star wide receiver for the 49ers this season.

According to CBS Sports, that player is second-year wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.

"San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, the 31st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, didn't have a chance to hit the ground running as a rookie after being shot in an armed robbery attempt in San Francisco just before the start of the 2024 season," writes CBS Sports' Garrett Podell. "He worked his way into making his NFL debut in Week 7, and he produced 400 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 31 catches in 11 games played, four of which were starts.

"With a normal offseason to train, plus Pro Bowl wide receiver Deebo Samuel being traded away to the Washington Commanders, Pearsall has the opportunity to emerge as a key contributor in 2025 as an every week starter in Kyle Shanahan's offense."

Podell makes some good points, but Pearsall currently is injured. He pulled his hamstring before OTAs and will be out until training camp. He also missed OTAs last year due to a shoulder subluxation. Then he pulled his hamstring in training. Then he got shot.

Before Pearsall can become a star, he needs to prove he can stay healthy.

Meanwhile, rookie wide receiver Jordan Watkins is healthy and drawing rave reviews from Brock Purdy. Maybe Watkins is the 49ers' biggest potential under-the-radar star.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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