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PFF Projects 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall to Break Out in 2025

The 49ers are getting old.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are getting old.

They've more or less kept their core of players together since 2020. That's half a decade. They desperately need a young player to step up next season.

And Pro Football Focus expects that young breakout player to be wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.

"Pearsall endured about as arduous of a first season as possible but still offered solid results, turning in a 64.1 PFF receiving grade with only a 3.1% drop rate," writes PFF analyst Bradley Locker."The former Florida product was even stronger during his final two years of college, posting an 82.6 PFF receiving grade and 2.19 yards per route run. In light of the fact that the 49ers may trade Deebo Samuel and that Brandon Aiyuk is still returning from a severe knee injury, Pearsall will presumably shoulder more on his plate in 2025."

Pearsall is a great selection. Not only did he get shot in the chest and miss the first six games of the regular season, he also missed most of OTAs, minicamp and training camp with hamstring and shoulder injuries, too. In addition, Kyle Shanahan's offense is notoriously difficult to learn, especially for young wide receivers.

This year, Pearsall should have Shanahan's scheme down. Plus, he should have a full offseason for the first time. Which means he certainly could break out. Remember, he had 210 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in the 49ers' final two games. You could argue he has begun to break out already.

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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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