Brock Purdy has christened No. 33 overall pick De’Zhaun Stribling a “baller.”
We know, stop the presses that a quarterback likes one of his receivers. The extent of Purdy’s praise is nevertheless notable, especially with veteran Christian Kirk already shelved by a calf injury. “Dude is a baller, and I mean that,” Purdy began. “It’s hard to say that for a rookie, right off the jump, but just seeing him run routes. ... He’s smart. He’s learned the playbook really quick, which is awesome. And then, on top of that, you can see his strength, too.” Purdy went on for several more sentences. It’s still laughably early in the training camp process — the pads have yet to really come on — but Stribling was a controversial selection where immediate praise could not be taken for granted. The next step will be impressing coach Kyle Shanahan once the boss returns from injuries sustained in a car accident. There are snaps and targets for the taking in a receiver corps being remade on the fly this season.
