Ricky Pearsall is waiting to have surgery on his PCL, which was a medically sound decision rather than avoidance.
Ricky Pearsall is done for the season before it even starts. Multiple confirmed reports have the 49ers placing him on season-ending injured reserve with a lingering PCL injury that will require surgery. This is as close to a certainty as fantasy news gets — treat him as unrostered for draft purposes entirely. If you already have him ranked or stashed on a dynasty roster, drop him from redraft consideration immediately; there's no scenario where he contributes in 2026.
The bigger question for your draft prep is who inherits the vacated target share in San Francisco's passing game. Pearsall was carving out a real role in that offense, and his absence opens meaningful snap and route opportunity behind Brandon Aiyuk (if healthy) and the tight end/running back weapons. Keep an eye on the 49ers' WR depth chart as camp progresses — names like De'Zhaun Stribling become more relevant, though the hamstring tightness he's dealing with is a separate, lower-confidence issue and shouldn't be overread this early; it's worth monitoring but not yet a reason to draft him with confidence.
Bottom line: erase Pearsall from your board, and treat San Francisco's WR3/4 mix as a late-round dart-throw situation worth revisiting closer to your draft once camp battles sort themselves out. Confidence on the season-ending nature of this injury is maximal across all sources — this isn't speculative, it's confirmed. Adjust rosters and rankings accordingly now rather than waiting.
Pearsall's season-ending injury (reportedly a significant issue, likely knee/shoulder related to IR) removes a talented but often-hurt weapon from the 49ers' already thin receiver room. With Brandon Aiyuk still working back from his own ACL tear and Pearsall now shelved, San Francisco's target distribution funnels even more heavily toward Jauan Jennings, who becomes a clear WR2/3 with legitimate weekly upside as the top healthy outside option. Kendrick Bourne and Jacob Cowing also see modest usage bumps in three-receiver sets, while tight end George Kittle and RB Christian McCaffrey (when healthy) remain the offense's primary fantasy focal points regardless of the receiver shuffle. This also slightly increases the value of any 49ers receiver added via waiver claim or trade, since the depth chart now has a real vacancy for snaps.
The 49ers placed Ricky Pearsall on injured reserve Saturday and one of the players in position to help replace him on offense is out of practice with an injury.