San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall delivered his second 100-yard performance of the season in Sunday's 16-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The second-year receiver hauled in a season-high eight receptions for 117 yards on 11 targets, proving to be a critical playmaker in the Week 3 matchup at Levi's Stadium.
While Pearsall has yet to score his first touchdown of the year, he earned Pro Football Focus' highest pass-catching grade of the game (75.2). Actually, he tied with Cardinals tight end Elijah Higgins. However, Higgins caught only one pass for seven yards, so we'll give the edge to Pearsall, who was far more impactful.
The former first-round pick has quickly become a reliable weapon in Kyle Shanahan's offense, regardless of whether it's Brock Purdy or Mac Jones under center. His presence was significant on Sunday, with wide receiver Jauan Jennings sidelined due to ankle and shoulder injuries, and tight end George Kittle still on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury.
Pearsall's story continues to inspire his teammates. He missed the first six games of his rookie 2024 season after being shot in the chest during a robbery attempt, but has since emerged as one of San Francisco's top breakout candidates for 2025.
"Ricky's a beast," star running back Christian McCaffrey said after the game, summing up his praise in just three words.
Veteran tackle Trent Williams had a bit more to say about the 25-year-old wide receiver.
"He's a first-round pick. I don't know how that should surprise anybody," Williams said. "But his rookie season was derailed by something that he couldn't control, so it's a blessing just to see him out there playing the best we've seen him play.
"Obviously, he's a quarterback's safety blanket. Ricky's a baller, bro, and we always knew that from day one. Obviously, it got off to a rough start, but I think he's going to cement himself as one of the top receivers in the league here soon."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan echoed those sentiments, noting that Pearsall's rise has been building since last season.
"This is how Ricky's been for a while," Shanahan said. "We felt it towards the end of last year. He's been this way all through training camp, and it's one of the reasons we wanted to draft him here, and he hasn't disappointed us at all.
"So he stepped it up big, and you've got to do that even more when you have guys out like J.J. and guys like George."
Pearsall now has 16 receptions for 281 yards through three games, putting him on pace to comfortably top the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his NFL career.