49ers Can Silence Draft Critics if De'Zhaun Stribling Does This

No pressure.

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The San Francisco 49ers will immediately look smart for drafting De’Zhaun Stribling if he finishes ahead of any receiver drafted ahead of him in receptions, yards, or touchdowns. According to Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated, that is not only what it will take for the pick to look good, but that will happen, and the pick will look good. Orr went through his bold predictions for 2026, and Stribling outproducing a receiver ahead of him and looking like a fine selection was one of them.

The San Francisco 49ers can look smart for drafting De’Zhaun Stribling

When the 49ers drafted Stribling, they took a lot of heat. Not many analysts had him as the next receiver to come off the board, and his prospect profile came with some warning signs. However, the draft can be a crap shoot, and San Francisco believes that he can fit into their offensive system. Still, if he does produce as a rookie, he is going to look like another player that the 49ers reached and whiffed on.

Reports were that the 49ers did have receivers ranked ahead of Stribling, but those receivers were gone by pick 27, which is why the team traded back twice before taking the Ole Miss wideout. So, if Stribling did outproduce one of these receivers, it would be quite notable. 

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The list of receivers to get taken ahead of Stibling was Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, KC Concepcion, and Omar Cooper Jr. The good news for the 49ers is that some of the landing spots might make the team look good. 

Tate is on a new offense for second-year quarterback Cam Ward. They could take time to get going. Tyson will be the second threat behind Chris Olave in New Orleans, and Lemon will be behind Saquon Barkley and Devonta Smith on his team's pecking order. 

Concepcion and Cooper went to two of the most unsettled quarterback rooms in the NFL. So, those two getting off to slow starts while Stribling makes key catches in games on a playoff run could make San Francisco look pretty smart. 

The one thing that would hurt them is if Concepcion did not produce because of Denzel Boston. Boston went to the Cleveland Browns as well, and went six picks after Stribling. If Concepcion only fell short of Stribling because Boston was so good, it would still not look good.   

Still, the landing spots do set up nicely for Stribling to look good by the end of the year.