Things haven't come easy for Ricky Pearsall, early on. The San Francisco 49ers' second-year wide receiver has been no stranger to adversity.
Following a hamstring pull earlier in the offseason, Pearsall finally returned to action for the first time at 49ers training camp. Amid some murkiness in the wide receiver room and plenty of questions at the moment, Pearsall didn't take long to remind the 49ers why he was a first-round pick just last year.
Niners podcaster and team expert Rob Lowder was in attendance Monday and noted Pearsall had a strong first practice after returning from his hamstring injury:
"Ricky Pearsall had a good practice. Multiple catches. On one play, Brock Purdy threw the ball over the middle, just over the hands of multiple defenders. It looked incomplete, then Pearsall comes out of nowhere, almost baseball sliding to make the grab just above ground."
Now, this is just one opinion. But, it does seem to be the majority opinion. Others noted that the second-year wideout looked as though he "hadn't missed a day of practice."
Ricky Pearsall has a golden opportunity in front of him in only his second season
Of course, Brandon Aiyuk is still recovering from his ACL injury suffered last season. From the looks of it, Aiyuk still has a ways to go before he's back on the field.
And now, Jauan Jennings is banged up with a calf injury.
This leaves Pearsall as the Niners' de facto number one wide receiver.
On a team that also features the likes of Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle, one might think the offense will end up being just fine so long as the aforementioned two stay healthy. But, if Pearsall can also stay healthy and move past these early bumps in the road, he'll have an opportunity to dominate targets in an otherwise-depleted wide receiver room.
This is a team which would welcome that, too. Jennings is a good player, but he can't shoulder the load. And, who knows what we're going to get from Aiyuk when he's back from his ACL tear?
Pearsall was a first rounder for a reason, and the Niners need him to show up in a big way, starting right now.
So far, in camp, he's tracking to do just that.