First Impression of Ricky Pearsall from 49ers Rookie Minicamp

He's tough to cover when he gets a free release at the line of scrimmage.
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) runs
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) runs / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
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SANTA CLARA -- Ricky Pearsall just had his first practice with the 49ers. Here's what we learned about him.

THE GOOD

He's tough to cover when he gets a free release at the line of scrimmage. On one play, he faced rookie second-round pick Renardo Green, who lined up 9 yards off him. Pearsall ran a beautiful stutter-go double move which made Green lunge and grab him at the top of the route, but Pearsall still ran by him. Unfortunately for Pearsall, quarterback Tanner Mordecai threw the ball away, which is a strange thing to do so quickly in a 7-on-7 drill.

THE NOT SO GOOD

He struggles against press man-to-man coverage. This showed up on his college tape and was confirmed Friday on the practice field. When a cornerback gets his hands on Pearsall, Pearsall has a tough time getting open. He doesn't have the strength or elusiveness to get away quickly. Renardo Green jammed Pearsall multiple times. Even Don Callis, an undrafted rookie who played at Troy, jammed Pearsall and broke up a pass that was intended for him when he was running a slant.

THE VERDICT

In certain ways, Pearsall is similar to Deebo Samuel, because both of them struggle to beat press-man coverage, which means Kyle Shanahan has to create free releases for them. And Shanahan can do that most of the time. But when the Chiefs played press-man coverage in the Super Bowl, they shut down Samuel, and Shanahan couldn't help him. I'm guessing the 49ers will put Pearsall in motion when he's on the field, and that should help him. But when he gets the ball, he won't be the threat that Samuel is. So if Pearsall is going to replace Samuel in a year or two, he seems like a downgrade.


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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.