If there were relatively few concerns about his health, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was poised to play a massive role in the San Francisco 49ers offense entering 2026. After all, the Niners watched Jauan Jennings leave via free agency and are poised to give disgruntled wideout Brandon Aiyuk the boot at some point soon.
Unfortunately, Pearsall's health and availability have very much been called into question since the Niners used a first-round pick on him back in 2024, albeit a gunshot wound suffered in August of his rookie year can't exactly be set upon his shoulders as a blame point.
Nevertheless, and fairly or not, Pearsall has been designated with the injury-risk label, thanks largely to knee issues that plagued his 2025 campaign. To date, he's played in just 20 out of a possible 34 regular-season games, and that certainly influenced San Francisco's decision to sign two veterans this offseason, Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, and also to use yet another top pick on a receiver, Ole Miss' De'Zhaun Stribling, last April.
People are noticing and wondering where Pearsall fits into the equation.
One individual who's paying attention is former 49ers guard Alex Boone, who was part of the Niners' height of the early 2010s. He appeared with Bay Area sports personalities, Larry Krueger and Grant Cohn on the 49ers Collective show, and the now-retired lineman didn't exactly hold back with his expectations for Pearsall.
Aaron Boone delivers NSFW warning to Ricky Pearsall
Boone didn't mince words during his own Niners tenure, and Rhino (his affectionate nickname) held true to that reputation when speaking with both Krueger and Cohn:
Former #49ers OL Alex Boone predicted that WR Ricky Pearsall is going to break out this year.
— 49ers Collective (@49ersHMA) May 18, 2026
‘I think Ricky is looking back going, hey it’s either now or never. They just drafted a fucking receiver. Dude the writing is on the wall. If you don’t do it now, we’re just gonna… pic.twitter.com/DRVnTaD51c
"I think Ricky is looking back going, hey it’s either now or never," Boone said. "They just drafted a f---ing receiver. Dude, the writing is on the wall. If you don’t do it now, we’re just gonna draft one more receiver, and& then your f---ing seat has now vanished in this room."
Pretty blunt.
A safe-for-work translation wouldn't be much different. Pearsall has plenty of talent and flashed that at various points over his two years in San Francisco. But his health has gotten in the way, which has led to relatively lackluster production. And that fact directly influenced the 49ers' decisions to both sign Evans and Kirk while also drafting Stribling.
Should Pearsall miss additional time because of injuries or poor output, indeed, the "writing is on the wall," and the Niners could ultimately lose patience.
Hopefully, Pearsall is well aware of this fact and knows he's under immense pressure to finally live up to expectations in year three.
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