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Will 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall Outproduce Jauan Jennings in 2024?

He won't start over Deebo Samuel as the Z-receiver -- Samuel is still in his prime and one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. So if Pearsall is going to play as a rookie, he'll need to beat out Jauan Jennings for playing time, which might not be so easy to do.

Grant Cohn

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) smiles 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) smiles 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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When the 49ers drafted Ricky Pearsall in Round 1, most people assumed they'd have to play him right away. But will they?

Pearsall looked good playing with the first-string offense during OTAs and minicamp. He started in place of Brandon Aiyuk, who is holding out as he negotiates a contract extension with the 49ers. Eventually, Aiyuk will return and reclaim his spot as the starting X-receiver. Then what will happen to Pearsall?

He won't start over Deebo Samuel as the Z-receiver -- Samuel is still in his prime and one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. So if Pearsall is going to play as a rookie, he'll need to beat out Jauan Jennings for playing time, which might not be so easy to do.

Jennings caught just 19 passes during the regular season -- he was the odd man out for most of the year. But in the playoffs, he caught 10 passes in three games and probably would have been the Super Bowl MVP had the 49ers not collapsed. That's why they gave him a two-year deal worth nearly $16 million.

I can't see the 49ers spending $8 million per season on average for a wide receiver they don't intend to play. Jennings is the starting slot receiver and he will catch more than 19 passes next season. His role will increase, not decrease.

Meanwhile, Pearsall will have to wait for one of Aiyuk or Samuel to get injured or traded. And if neither of those things happens this season, Pearsall might not play until next season.

No guarantees for the rookie.

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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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