Months after shooting, 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall ascending with each game

Ben Arthur

NFL Reporter

Editor’s note: This is the 10th installment of a season-long series on a breakout star from the past week of NFL action. The Week 10 winner: San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.

Ricky Pearsall’s first career touchdown came out of a desire for redemption.

Just past the midway point in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco’s first-round rookie wide receiver ran an in-breaker over the middle. Brock Purdy targeted him on the play, but the pass sailed a bit behind Pearsall, allowing the defensive back to break up the pass.

The 49ers still got the first down — the Bucs were hit with defensive holding away from the ball — but Pearsall had a message for Purdy: If we get a similar look, throw that again.

Four plays later, Pearsall got his wish.

Purdy threw a strike over the middle for Pearsall, who turned upfield with plenty of space in front of him. He high-stepped as he picked up speed. Then he stiff-armed Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. en route to the end zone.

“It was really cool to see all my teammates run down and say congrats,” Pearsall told the team website.

“It was just make a play with the ball in my hands,” he said in his postgame press conference. “Get in the end zone. Get my first [touchdown]. That was my mindset.”

Less than three months after getting shot in the chest as the victim of an attempted armed robbery, the former Florida star had a career-high 73 receiving yards and the score on four receptions in the 49ers’ 23-20 road victory Sunday against the Bucs.

He had a 19.1% chance of scoring on his 46-yard touchdown, where he gained 31 yards after the catch, according to Next Gen Stats. He reached a top speed of 19.47 miles per hour on the play.

Pearsall also came up clutch on San Francisco’s game-winning drive, catching two passes for 20 yards to help set up Jake Moody’s 44-yard field goal. The latter was a 14-yard reception against press man coverage.

“He came up big in really big moments,” All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said of Pearsall. “Am I surprised? No. I know what he’s made of. I know the talent that he has.”

Added coach Kyle Shanahan: “He made the plays he needed to when we went to him.”

Why Pearsall was successful in Week 10

He made his presence felt between the numbers.

His two longest completions of the day — the 46-yard touchdown, the 14-yard catch on the Niners’ game-winning drive — came on intermediate, in-breaking routes. And intermediate routes are where he’s made his living three games into his NFL career. In fact, he’s yet to receive a target more than 20 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus.

Pearsall has 132 receiving yards so far this season on 11 catches. He’s been most effective over the short middle and intermediate middle portion of the field, where he’s caught six of his seven targets for 91 yards, including 37 after the catch.

Purdy has a 149.3 passer rating when targeting Pearsall in the intermediate center (between 10 and 20 yards downfield) and a 99 rating targeting the rookie wideout in the short center (between the line of scrimmage and 10 yards downfield), higher than any other portion of the field, per PFF.

Pearsall’s numbers have also improved with each passing game. He had three receptions for 21 yards in his debut against the Kansas City Chiefs and four catches for 38 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8 before his four-catch, 73-yard performance on Sunday.

His steady improvement comes as the Niners continue to adjust to life without receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the same game Pearsall made his debut.

“The most important thing is to continue to develop that trust with Brock,” Pearsall said. “It’s just going to continue to get much better.”

Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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