Ricky

Pearsall

Pearsall’s strings of duds stretches into another week. He now has 18 receiving yards over his past three games since returning to the lineup from injury. It’s not that Pearsall isn’t getting playing time. Against the Browns on Sunday, he led the Niners in pass routes. For whatever reason, Pearsall is not part of the team’s passing attack. He’s fourth in the pass-catching pecking order at best. He likely shouldn’t be rostered in 12-team leagues going forward.

Pearsall’s mundane fantasy outing could have been saved on an end zone target in the second quarter, but Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson undercut the route and picked Brock Purdy off to flip the script. Kyle Shanahan was able to institute a play action-heavy game plan that fed targets to George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, and Jauan Jennings for much of the game, resulting in the poor fantasy outing for the talented second-year receiver. Pearsall’s primary function as the downfield receiver is likely to continue to lead to a wide range of outcomes, something fantasy managers will be forced to live through as the fantasy regular season comes to a close.

It’s good to have it confirmed that there were no setbacks from the long-term knee injury on Sunday. Despite the one-catch dud against the Cardinals last week, Pearsall did tie Jauan Jennings for a team high in snaps. He’ll be on the WR3 line this week against the Panthers.

Pearsall was targeted three times, catching just one pass for zero yards. He did get some looks downfield, but was not quite open for completions. The good news is Pearsall tied Jauan Jennings for snaps on the day, with both receivers seeing 41. He was not limited in his return from a knee injury in terms of snaps, but was a distant No. 4 pass-catching option in the offense. Pearsall currently lies in the fantasy WR4 range for Week 12 against the Panthers.

After such a long layoff, it’s hard to fully understand what Pearsall will give us from a fantasy perspective against the Cardinals. He figures to be a main target in the pecking order, but what we saw of Pearsall was mostly without George Kittle early in the season. We have FLEX expectations given the long layoff, but WR3 isn’t out of the question. His return effectively quashes the fantasy value of Jauan Jennings by moving Jennings lower in the pecking order.

Earlier today, Pearsall told reporters that he is once again feeling like himself, though it should be noted that he remained limited at Thursday’s practice. That said, yesterday, Shanahan said that the medical staff declared Pearsall “healthy and good to go.” The 49ers’ perimeter wide receiver ranked third among NFL wide receivers with 281 receiving yards in Weeks 1-3. If he has fully regained his form, he should graduate from fantasy WR3 status to WR2 status fairly quickly.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed post-practice that both Purdy and Pearsall are good to go this week. While both players are coming off lengthy absences, they fortuitously get the Cardinals’ fantasy-friendly defense to shake off any remaining rust. Purdy is a borderline QB1/2 this weekend, while Pearsall can be started as a volatile WR3. Purdy practiced fully on Thursday.

Pearsall officially participated in practice for the first time since spraining his PCL in Week 4. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan previously said Pearsall would not resume practicing until he was able to hit his pre-injury speed, measured via the team’s GPS tracking system. While one might be understandably concerned about Pearsall’s conditioning, he theoretically should be good to go. If active, he can be started as a WR3. His 281 receiving yards in Weeks 1-3 were the third-most among NFL wide receivers.

Purdy was limited on Wednesday. We expect him to upgrade to full participation on Thursday if his return-to-play plan remains on track. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that the team “will have aggressive work for Purdy, as they build toward him playing.” If active, Purdy would be viable as a borderline QB1/2 against the Cardinals.

Pearsall has missed six straight games since suffering a PCL strain in Week 4. The injury has kept him from the practice field for several weeks, so a return in any capacity would be a good sign at this point. Pearsall has totaled 20 receptions for 327 scoreless yards in the four games he appeared in this season.