49ers Have to Accept a Harsh Reality With Ricky Pearsall

Is there any player unluckier in the NFL than Ricky Pearsall?

The guy cannot catch a break. Ever since the San Francisco 49ers drafted him, he's dealt with injury after injury. His latest one, which is tied to his PCL injury from last year, might end his season.

That is what led the 49ers to reunite with Deebo Samuel. It means Pearsall's season is most likely done, and once that becomes official, the 49ers will need to accept a harsh reality with him.

The harsh reality with Pearsall

Dec 14, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1) runs with the ball during the third quarter against Tennessee Titans cornerback Marcus Harris (26) and linebacker Cody Barton (50) at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's that he's a draft whiff for them. Maybe even a draft bust. Pearsall has barely played. He's an injury-prone player. This isn't what the 49ers envisioned for a first-round pick.

No team does. Pearsall is proving the 49ers wrong for taking him in the first round. His knee swelling up and potentially costing him the season will cement that.

If he ends up having surgery on his knee, which is expected after they signed Samuel, he will have gone through three seasons playing only 20 games.

There's absolutely no way Pearsall will have his fifth-year option picked up. Not a chance. That's the ultimate indicator if a player picked in the first round was worth it.

Whenever a team selects a player in the first round, they expect contributions as a starter. There has to be some impact. Pearsall hasn't been able to provide that.

He showed a bit of flash early last season when he was healthy before he injured his PCL. But all that does is give false hope. The reality is he'll never stay healthy.

If his knee didn't swell up now, you could bet your bottom dollar that he would've sustained an injury another way. That's been his trend since he was drafted.

First, it was his shoulder and his hamstring in his rookie season. I won't mention his unfortunate shooting incident, as that's unrelated to football. He made a great recovery from that anyway.

Last year, his hamstring gave him issues again before he hurt his PCL a few weeks into the season. There's always something with him.

Pearsall is a perfect example of why the 49ers can never build a young nucleus. They continue to waste draft picks on players who don't pan out.

At the time when Pearsall was selected, it was a head-scratcher. Cooper DeJean was on the table for them. Yet, they elected to go with Pearsall.

And that isn't a hindsight take either. DeJean was the obvious player to take, especially since the 49ers needed a defensive back.

Now, the 49ers are stuck with a player who can't get on the field while DeJean is one of the better defensive backs in the NFL.

Pearsall is a draft whiff. There's no debating that, and if you want to call him a bust too, that's also fair. The 49ers must accept this harsh reality.

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