Trouble in the Slot: Can Pearsall Stay Healthy When It Matters Most?

Santa Clara, CA – June 2, 2025

When the 49ers drafted Ricky Pearsall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, they weren’t just adding speed — they were investing in the future of their receiving corps. Fast forward to 2025, and Pearsall stands at the edge of opportunity. Deebo Samuel has been traded. Brandon Aiyuk is still rehabbing from knee surgery. The door is wide open. But with every missed practice, every tweak of the hamstring, one question grows louder in Santa Clara: Can Pearsall stay healthy long enough to seize the moment?

The Florida product missed the first six games of his rookie season due to a gunshot wound suffered before training camp. And just as he began finding rhythm — highlighted by a breakout Week 17 performance against the Lions — the offseason struck again. This time, a nagging hamstring issue has sidelined him for OTAs and now threatens his availability for minicamp.

“We’re going to be smart with him,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week. “He’s got all the tools. But we need him on the field.”

That’s the balance the 49ers are now forced to walk. On tape, Pearsall is electric. He runs crisp routes, has strong hands, and offers after-the-catch burst that few young receivers can replicate. He was drafted to be a movable chess piece — someone who could thrive in the slot or stretch the field vertically. But as the 49ers have learned before, talent means little if it’s never available on Sundays.

Even more pressing is the context: with Aiyuk’s timetable uncertain and Jauan Jennings more dependable than dynamic, San Francisco doesn’t have time for development curves. They need a weapon now. Pearsall was supposed to be that weapon.

“He’s got WR1 upside,” one NFC scout said. “But durability might be the only thing that keeps him from getting there.”

For a franchise in win-now mode, that’s not a small caveat — it’s a potential turning point. The 49ers can’t afford another season defined by “what could’ve been.” Not when Brock Purdy just signed a $265 million extension. Not when the NFC arms race is heating up. And certainly not when Kyle Shanahan’s system demands precision timing and availability.

If Pearsall can stay on the field, he might be the best-kept secret in the NFL. But until then, the only thing he’s catching is concern — and plenty of it.