How De'Zhaun Stribling could be the ‘sleeper of 2026'
Yahoo Fantasy's Matt Harmon, Josh Norris and Hayden Winks discuss what makes Stribling a must-draft target who could finish as San Francisco's top scoring wide receiver. Check out the full conversation on the "Yahoo Fantasy Forecast" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
I got Stribling as my wide receiver 40.
I have him right next to Quentin Johnston- Ooh and Carnell Tate and, uh- Oh, let's go.
I'm ready to go.
I mean, the fact that he was, like, this productive is, like, one thing, but how he did it I think really stood out to me.
There was a quick out to start the game.
He was wide open on the slant route, a really good route by him that they just didn't connect on.
He had a jet sweep.
He made a, a leaping grab at the sticks, and then a, a whip route win for him, and then a sideline grab.
This is one of my favorite moments.
They were interviewing Trent Williams on the sideline, who for the entire drive was just talking about how awesome Deshaun Stribling is and how smart he is, how tough he is, how fast he is, how much he's understanding the playbook.
As he's literally talking about that, Str- Stribling goes up there and bosses a guy on the sideline.
So this is, I think, pretty textbook stuff for what a sleeper is supposed to, look like- Yeah early on.
This has been the, the beat reporter, talk of the town when we're talking about just the training camp performances as well.
I think he might be the sleeper of 2026, and I wanna be buying this.
The 49ers always put up huge numbers, and there's a lot of volatility with all the older guys around him.
I think he's gonna be in two wide receiver sets in week one.
Yeah.
I, I couldn't, like, care less about names like Christian Kirk or DeMarcus Robinson or anything like that anymore.
I mean, there, there's just been- Oh, yeah such a clear drumbeat on Stribling and, you know, like, I, I thought he was a good prospect, okay?
Like I thought-- I had him ranked as a day two guy.
So this was Of course, I wasn't sitting there saying he was gonna be the 33rd overall pick.
But to me, you know, not like, I know the college production, red flag, all that type of stuff.
But to me, he was a day two draft prospect and we drafted on day two, and he's on a team that produces numbers.
Like this, this looks like a guy that when I do my next rankings update, like I was already way ahead of the dynasty market on Stribling.
I'm gonna probably have him as like, pretty close to like a top 100 player right now at this point
