As Brandon Aiyuk's uncertain future hangs over San Francisco 49ers training camp, rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall has quickly impressed his head coach.
Despite a slowed start due to a hamstring injury, Pearsall's early returns are good ones even with bigger challenges ahead.
"I've been real happy with his progress so far," Shanahan said Friday, via team transcript, of the 31st overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Florida product was placed on the non-football injury list ahead of training camp due to the aforementioned bad hammy. Though he's back, his return has come with a careful approach. Shanahan has glimpsed enough to grin, but he believes the coming practices will be more telling.
"It's tough when you have a hammy and you have to be very smart getting him back," Shanahan said. "We've eased him in, he's gone through that real well. He's been real diligent with his rehab and stuff. I know his reps went up a little bit more today, but it was a low day overall and I think tomorrow will be a much bigger challenge. It's a higher practice. We have one-on-ones tomorrow."
Pearsall's selection fueled trade rumors during the draft, with rumblings surrounding Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel being dealt. Niners general manager John Lynch did his best to put those to rest back in the spring, but with Aiyuk currently amid a hold-in looking for a new contract, just how things play out for the Bay Area's WR corps remains to be seen.
Regardless, it would seem Pearsall is bound for an important role, which was the case for Samuel, a 2019 second-rounder, and Aiyuk, a 2020 first-rounder. Though neither truly hit their strides until they had more time in Shanahan's offense, they were still playing vital roles.
Among the duties of anyone in Shanahan's scheme is blocking.
Despite an early hiccup, Pearsall has so far shown he's up to the task regardless of whether he's being targeted or looking to put a hat on somebody.
"Just because the ball gets thrown to them doesn't mean they did good or bad always," Shanahan said. "You get zoned 80% of the time out there. I didn't realize he didn't catch a pass, but when I get in there, I'm going watch him run at least 16 routes during plays. So, you expect everyone to catch it when it comes to you. So that really doesn't affect me in terms of like what we see from a practice, but it's been cool watching him in the run game. He definitely understands our standard. It's not someone we have to call in and be like, we need more. He gets it. He's doing everything he can and just continuing to get more reps."
