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What 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall Needs to Prove in Training Camp

So far, Ricky Pearsall's tenure with the 49ers hasn't gone so well.

Grant Cohn

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) runs drills during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) runs drills during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
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So far, Ricky Pearsall's tenure with the 49ers hasn't gone so well.

The 49ers surprised everyone including Pearsall when they drafted him in Round 1, because no one gave him a first-round grade, not even the 49ers. So he's going to face tons of scrutiny.

Pearsall practiced during OTAs and minicamp, but he wore a blue non-contact jersey. At the time, the 49ers said he was playing through an undisclosed injury, but it didn't seem serious considering Pearsall was practicing at full speed. I assumed he was healthy and wearing the non-contact jersey because he hadn't yet signed his contract. But apparently he really was injured.

I assume the injury is minor. Still, it's significant enough for him to land on the NFI List. And now before he can prove he's good enough to live up to his status as a first-round pick, he has to prove he can stay healthy in an NFL training camp. Because so far, he hasn't cleared that basic hurdle.

Remember, the 49ers drafted Pearsall primarily so they're not desperate to extend Brandon Aiyuk's contract. Aiyuk wants $30 million per season, and if Pearsall stays healthy and plays well in training camp, the 49ers will have absolutely zero incentive to give Aiyuk all that money.

But if Pearsall can't even stay healthy long enough to practice consistently, the 49ers will have no choice but to give Aiyuk what he wants.

The 49ers have put Pearsall in an incredibly difficult situation because he's a key piece of their negotiation with Aiyuk. Now he just has to stay healthy.

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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.

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