49ers could be preparing to be without Ricky Pearsall for the season
Yahoo Sports fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Justin Boone discuss the news that the San Francisco 49ers may be preparing to go this season without Ricky Pearsall. Check out the full conversation on the "Yahoo Fantasy Forecast" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
49ers could be preparing for Ricky Pearsall to miss the entire season.
He said, quote, "I think it's reasonable, rational, logical for the 49ers to not expect Ricky Pearsall to make any contribution in 2026."
So what exce- what essentially happened here, folks at home, is that Ricky Pearsall never had surgery on that PCL injury that was a big problem for him last year.
And again, he tried to get d- you know, just kind of gut it through during the season.
He was on and off.
He'd, and he'd aggravate it.
He tried to not have surgery on it, and he experienced knee swelling at the start of training camp.
It's kind of been bothering him all offseason, so now essentially he has to decide, am I If I get the surgery now, 2026 s- the season is over before it even starts here for Ricky Pearsall.
So it is July 30th, Boone, and the Niners not only are also dealing with an injury to this, the serious one to Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, who they signed as a free agent, is also hurt.
Jordan James, their backup running back, is also dealing with an injury, so what's old is new again.
The 49ers are dealing with injuries.
Where are you at, with Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, and what's going on in the 49ers wide receiver room?
I mean, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by this, like you're alluding to there, right?
The 49ers just injuries every single year.
But the Pearsall one, it's such a gut punch.
It- you feel so bad for the guy.
And again, we don't wanna, you know, eulogize him here.
His career still has a long way to go.
Yeah.
He can still rebound from this and be a great NFL player and a great fantasy asset.
But man, I was looking back at like last season and some of the things he was doing, right?
Starting with the back-to-back 100-yard games, where two of the first three weeks there.
Mm-hmm.
Gets the injury, comes back, takes a little time to get going, but late in the season puts up a couple really solid stat lines, 96 yards in one game, 85 yards in another during the fantasy playoffs, and it just leaves you thinking like, "What could be with this guy?"
Even entering the season, it was like, this could be a really great offense.
It still could be.
And playing across from Mike Evans, we could see a breakout from him.
Like, if you look at just what he did last year, eh, the four times Or sorry, the six appearances that he had where he wasn't limited due to injury, four of those games he was a top 24 fantasy wideout in those weeks.
Like, he showed that ceiling, and now there's a really good chance that we're not gonna get to see it this year.
So it's awful for him.
