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Leonard Hankerson Explains Why the 49ers Believe in Ricky Pearsall

"His mentality to catch the rock. First thing I always look for is the toughness, which he has made plenty of catches over the middle of the field. And then his ability to separate."

Grant Cohn

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) smiles during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) smiles during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
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SANTA CLARA -- 49ers wide receiver coach Leonard Hankerson was asked about first-round pick Ricky Pearsall this week. Here's what Hankeson said.

Q: What jumped off the film when you were watching Ricky Pearsall?

HANKERSON: "His mentality to catch the rock. First thing I always look for is the toughness, which he has made plenty of catches over the middle of the field. And then his ability to separate. He's a polished receiver that I'm going to continue to develop, but he already has that it-factor and he's only going to continue to get better."

Q: Is what he's learning right now just getting down the offensive schemes?

HANKERSON: "That is the start. What you see on film is him playing fast and making plays, catching over the middle in traffic and getting up. Playing with swag. That happens once you figure out the offense and figure out the details in which we coach every route. Where to be, the timing, the landmarks, the depth -- it's hard to play fast when you don't know those things because you're still trying to learn where to line up. Once he gets that down, he'll be good to go."

Q: With Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings not being here, how valuable are these extra reps that Ricky Pearsall is getting with Brock Purdy?

HANKERSON: "Both good and bad. It's good for Ricky because he gets a ton of reps, but it's also bad because that's two guys who know how we do things, know how it's done the right way. When he's not able to see those guys do it, that's another rep for him not to be able to learn. The reps portion helps out a lot. The more we can rep things with him, the better they're going to be. In that sense, it helps."

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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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