Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Ricky Pearsall vs. Jauan Jennings

Evaluating who to play in fantasy football between San Francisco 49ers WRs Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings.

Sep 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1) reacts to making a first down against New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) during the first half at Caesars Superdome. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The 49ers' wide receiver room has been a hard one to evaluate through the first three weeks of the NFL season. It has even more so with backup QB Mac Jones' performance last Sunday. Here is who to start and who to sit in week three, regarding 49ers WRs Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings.

Jauan Jennings

Sep 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) reacts to scoring a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at Caesars Superdome. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

San Francisco 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings has become fantasy relevant lately in his career, and he showed that this is continuing with his week two performance against the New Orleans Saints. In this game he had 10 targets, five receptions, 89 yards receiving, and a touchdown. 

Mac Jones to Jauan Jennings for the 42-yard TD!

SFvsNO on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/oRKIHFajpv

— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025

This was a big bounce back for Jennings following a week one game where he only had two receptions for 16 yards. The main separator that stands out in the contests is the QB position. In the Saints game, starting quarterback Brock Purdy was out with an injury, so Mac Jones suited up and started, and performed well. He threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. It was clear in Jones’ debut for the 49ers that he and Jennings had a connection. The former first-round pick targeted Jennings the most out of anyone in the contest.

Another thing to note is that Jennings' stats have not been great against their week three opponent, the Arizona Cardinals. In five out of the six games against them, he has had two catches or fewer. In his two games last year, in one game he had one reception for 13 yards, and in the other he had seven receptions for 52 yards.

Ricky Pearsall

Sep 7, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1) runs the ball during the second half against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Ricky Pearsall, unlike Jennings, did not have a great fantasy showing with Jones at QB. Pearsall had four catches for 56 yards in the game on six targets. It was by no means an admissible outing fantasy-wise, but it was definitely underwhelming.

Pearsall, in week one with Purdy at QB, had four receptions for 108 yards. In his last three starts going into the 2024 season with Purdy, he has averaged 106 yards a game and 8.3 targets a game. Jennings, on the other hand, has averaged just 45 yards per game in his last three games with Purdy. 

Final Verdict

Both Pearsall and Jennings have the talent to have big fantasy performances on any given Sunday. That is only elevated with George Kittle on IR and Brandon Aiyuk still out with an injury. That being said, both are viable starts against a struggling Cardinals secondary, but out of the two, whoever has the edge will be whoever starts at QB. 

The Cardinals, through the first two weeks of the 2025 NFL season, are seventh in the league for most passing yards given up per game. 

San Fransisco head coach, Kyle Shanahan, said that Purdy has a chance to suit up on Sunday, and on Wednesday, Purdy was back at practice as a limited participant. If he plays Pearsall feels like the better option to play in fantasy football. If Jones, however, gets the call, although having a brief sample size of success with Jennings, he would then win the edge of the start or sit battle over Pearsall.