WR · SF · GWTTKB

Ricky Pearsall — fantasy football 2026

Every game, every stat category, and what the board says. 9.84 points per game in 2025, an ADP of 156.1, usage worth 9.4.

25 years old · 2 seasons of experience · 2024 draft class

Updated 2026-08-16 · free, no account, no paywall
Every figure below comes from our database. Where a stat is not held, the row is absent rather than zero.
ADP 156.1
Consensus across 4 books, standard deviation 61.7, 135 picks between cheapest and priciest. Cheapest on sleeper, priciest on cbs.
SLEEPER237.3
ESPN170.1
YAHOO114.6
CBS102.3
FFA473

Draft-room facts

Goes aroundRound 13, pick 12 in a 12-team draft
Positional rankWR60
Bye week8
ADP standard deviation61.7 picks

What we project for 2026

Our board has him at 7.5 points, 0.5 per game — 2.6 catches, 36 yards, 0.2 TDs. That is WR6, 341 overall.

The range runs from a floor of 0.4 points per game to a ceiling of 0.9, with the median at 0.5. Boom rate 78%, bust rate 26%. The spread is the actual bet, not the middle number.

He goes at 156.1 on consensus and our board has him 341. We rank him 184.9 picks worse than the room drafts him. At that distance it is a fade: we do not want him anywhere near his ADP.

The offense he plays in, 2026

San Francisco 49ers returns 5 of 6 continuity slots, replacing wr1. Brock Purdy at quarterback, Kyle Shanahan as head coach, Klay Kubiak calling it. The offense projects to 33.7 pass attempts a game at high confidence and 27.7 rushes.

In: Mike Evans (wr1), De'Zhaun Stribling (wr2), Christian Kirk (wr4), Jacob Cowing (wr7), Kaelon Black (rb2). Out: Jauan Jennings (wr1), Kendrick Bourne (wr3), Brian Robinson Jr. (rb2).

His own projected target share for 2026 is 10.4%, with a bear case of 9.1% and a bull case of 11.6% and a full range of 8.9% to 14.1%. That comes from 25 historical comparables, not from a depth chart.

The projected target split across the offense:

De'Zhaun Stribling16.1%
Mike Evans11.8%
George Kittle11.5%
Ricky Pearsall 10.4%
Christian Kirk9.2%
Christian McCaffrey8.9%

Our written view on this offense in 2026

Key additions: Signed WR Mike Evans from Bucs in free agency. Signed WR Christian Kirk in free agency. Drafted WR De'Zhaun Stribling in the 2nd round from Ole Miss. Drafted RB Kaelon Black in the 3rd round.

Key departures: WR Brandon Aiyuk (who did not play all of 2025 due to injury) is gone. WR Jauan Jennings is also gone. He has functioned as 49ers WR 1/2 for the past two seasons. RB Brian Robinson Jr left to ATL in free agency.

Notes: Stribling round 2 has opportunity to break out early. Mike Evans signing in free agency. Should be alpha WR1 but aging & injury risk. Potential sell high but should produce in 2026. Drafted RB Kaelon Black round 3 from Indiana. Black was not even invited to the NFL combine, but 49ers LOVE him. Could assume RB2 role immediately if he beats out Jordan James. Ricky Pearsall has an opportunity to break out as a WR2 but needs to stay healthy enough to do so. Signed Christian Kirk in offseason, veteran with no fantasy value but will take away targets. Kittle recovering from torn achilles. Drafted Wills the TE. Tonges should function as primary TE2, Wills will be TE3. CMC is a potential sell high candidate but know if healthy he is the number 1 overall RB in 2026.

How the volume number was reached: Same QB Brock Purdy returning — anchor to 2025 actuals (33.7 att/g); Regressed 30% toward league mean 33.5, floored at 30 → 33.6 att/g.

How that share projection was built

25 historical comps for WRs age ~23, prior share 15.8%, same team, OC continuity. Distribution: median 11.8%, p25-p75 [8.2%, 14.1%], tails [7.8%, 19.9%]. Closest comps: Van Jefferson 2022→2023 (LA: 14.7%→9.5%); Jonathan Mingo 2023→2024 (CAR: 18.5%→8.8%); Allen Lazard 2020→2021 (GB: 15.8%→12.1%). Adjustment: -5% from td_luck_breakout (TD regression risk)

self-anchored 45% to own 15.8% role (2yr), 55% to comp median 11.8%

The named comps are the closest historical matches and the arrow is what their share actually did the following season. That is the working, not a summary of it — if you disagree with the projection, this is the part to argue with.

Offensive environment: SF rates 25.4 against a league average of 23, 2.4 points above it on opponent-adjusted least squares (multi-capture merge).

2026 schedule

Opponent-adjusted pass defense faced, against 2025 ratings. Positive is an easier slate.

Full season-2.6 · harder
Weeks 1–6+1.9 · easier
Weeks 12–17-8.4 · harder
Fantasy playoffs (15–17)-15.3 · harder

Read this narrowly. Our own testing found that season-long strength of schedule does not survive as a draft input — defensive quality is among the least stable team properties year to year, and a preseason slate is built on last year's identities. The playoff-weeks column is the only one we would let break a tie, and even then it is a tiebreaker rather than a reason. The finding.

What happened when he missed time

From the absence record rather than a depth chart — who actually gained when he was out.

SeasonGames missedMain beneficiaryTheir PPR gain
20257Kendrick Bourne+5.8

Dynasty context not redraft

Everything in this section is about his dynasty trade value — what he is worth as a long-term asset in the trade market. It is not a forecast of his 2026 fantasy scoring. A player can be a fine redraft pick while his dynasty value falls, and the reverse. The redraft read is above; this is a different question with a different answer.

Where he sits in the dynasty value cycle

His dynasty value has moved -16.4% over the last twelve months. The market cycle classifies him as stable.

For context on how long this lasts at the position: the average career at his position produces 2.1 elite seasons and 2.6 startable seasons.

The five most similar seasons, and what their dynasty value did next

Matched on production profile — blended production + pedigree. The last column is how that player’s dynasty value moved the following year — a market outcome, not a scoring one.

PlayerSeasonTheir PPGSimilarityNext year
Jerry Jeudy20218.576%+18%
Rashod Bateman20228.967%-17.3%
Rashod Bateman20218.666%-1%
Rashod Bateman20235.165%+46.5%
Jonathan Mingo20235.764%-31.1%

Of the 5 with a following season on record, 2 gained value, 2 lost it and 1 held roughly flat.

Four years of dynasty value

02,0004,00020252026
Monthly superflex value, 2024-03 to 2026-07. Up 157% across the series, peaking at 4,823.

The player

Draft capital and athletic profile

Drafted2024, round 1, pick 31 by SFO
CollegeFlorida
Age at draft23
Height6′1″
Weight189 lb
40-yard dash4.41s
Vertical42″
Broad jump129″
3-cone6.64s
Shuttle4.05s

The record, season by season

2025 · SF · 9 games

His best game was Week 3 against ARI — 19.7 PPR on 11 targets and a 28.9% target share, in a game that finished 16-15. His worst was Week 11 against ARI at 1, on 2 targets, final score 41-22. Across 9 games he cleared 20 points 0 times and came in under 8 points 3 times. In the 5 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 13.2; in the 4 decided by more, 5.7. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 9.4 points per game. He scored 9.84, 5.6% below it. The engine classified the season as neutral.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1SEA17-1314.847108020.6%84%
2NO26-219.24656015.8%89%
3ARI16-1519.7811117028.9%97%
4JAX21-268.64546013.5%56%
11ARI41-22112008%75%
12CAR20-92.8246012.5%76%
13CLE26-83.42314013%87%
15TEN37-2415.66796025%58%
17CHI42-3813.55885024.2%81%

Production

Receptions36
Targets53
Receiving yards528
Carries2
Rushing yards-2
Touchdowns0
Points per game9.84
Yards per target9.96
Catch rate67.92%
Yards per carry-1

Role

Snap share78.11%
Target share17.94%
Air-yards share31.79%
WOPR0.49
RACR0.603

Efficiency

Average depth of target14.1
Yards after catch per reception2.1
Yards before catch per reception12.6
Total YAC74
Broken tackles0
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted68.7
Receiving EPA per game2.97
Rushing EPA per game-0.19

Scoring position

Red-zone targets4
Red-zone target share4.4%
End-zone target share8.8%
Expected receiving TDs0.88
Actual receiving TDs0
Receiving TD luck-0.88

Who else ate

The offense threw it 574 times. He took 10.17% of the targets. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Christian McCaffrey24.76%
Jauan Jennings17.27%
George Kittle13.24%
Kendrick Bourne10.17%
Ricky Pearsall 10.17%
Jake Tonges8.83%

By quarterback

He caught passes from 2 quarterbacks that season, and the splits are not close.

QBGamesTargetsPPGY/TTgt%
Brock Purdy7368.539.8616.69%
Mac Jones21714.4510.1822.35%

Blowouts against close games

2 of his 9 games were blowouts, 5% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 2.2 in those and 13.16 in close games — his scoring did not depend on garbage time.

2024 · SF · 11 games

His best game was Week 17 against DET — 28.7 PPR on 10 targets and a 27.8% target share, in a game that finished 34-40. His worst was Week 13 against BUF at 0, on 1 targets, final score 10-35. Across 11 games he cleared 20 points 1 time and came in under 8 points 7 times. In the 5 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 12.1; in the 6 decided by more, 5.5. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 8.2 points per game. He scored 8.5, 14.7% above it. The engine classified the season as lucky.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
7KC18-285.13521016.1%76%
8DAL30-2411.74438016%59%
10TB23-2017.34673117.6%64%
11SEA17-20002007.1%59%
12GB10-38000000%67%
13BUF10-35001005.9%73%
14CHI38-131.512507.7%49%
15LA6-122.61416012.9%56%
16MIA17-297.74437010.8%72%
17DET34-4028.7810141127.8%70%
18ARI24-4718.96869119%92%

Production

Receptions31
Targets46
Receiving yards400
Carries3
Rushing yards45
Touchdowns3
Points per game8.5
Yards per target8.7
Catch rate67.39%
Yards per carry15

Role

Snap share67%
Target share12.81%
Air-yards share18.38%
WOPR0.322
RACR0.604

Efficiency

Average depth of target11.4
Yards after catch per reception3.7
Yards before catch per reception9.2
Total YAC114
Broken tackles1
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted89
Receiving EPA per game0.68
Rushing EPA per game0.2

Scoring position

Red-zone targets7
Red-zone target share8.5%
End-zone target share6.7%
Red-zone carry share1%
Expected receiving TDs1.68
Actual receiving TDs2
Receiving TD luck0.32
Expected rushing TDs0.04

Who else ate

The offense threw it 533 times. He took 9.54% of the targets. 3 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Jauan Jennings23.44%
George Kittle19.5%
Deebo Samuel16.8%
Brandon Aiyuk9.75%
Ricky Pearsall 9.54%
Christian McCaffrey3.94%

By quarterback

He caught passes from 3 quarterbacks that season, and the splits are not close.

QBGamesTargetsPPGY/TTgt%
Brock Purdy9388.298.7113.54%
Brandon Allen1000%
Joshua Dobbs1818.98.6319%

Blowouts against close games

4 of his 11 games were blowouts, 21.8% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 5.1 in those and 12.06 in close games — his scoring did not depend on garbage time.

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