De'Zhaun Stribling's Fantasy Outlook with Brock Purdy as Ricky Pearsall Ruled Out for 49ers' Season

San Francisco 49ers rookie second-round pick De'Zhaun Stribling was potentially thrust into fantasy football relevance on Saturday with the announcement that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is set to miss the entire 2026 NFL season.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Niners general manager John Lynch announced that Pearsall is expected to undergo a season-ending PCL surgery in order to correct nagging knee issues.

With Pearsall out of the mix, Stribling is likely in line for a bigger role in San Francisco's offense alongside veteran wide receivers Mike Evans, Christian Kirk and the recently re-signed Deebo Samuel.

While Stribling cannot yet be counted on as a weekly starter in fantasy since quarterback Brock Purdy will have so many mouths to feed, the 6'2" speedster is undoubtedly worth a flier in the late rounds of essentially all fantasy formats.

The 49ers' selection of Stribling at the top of the second round in the 2026 NFL draft was somewhat surprising since he went ahead of multiple wideouts who were ranked higher than him by most outlets, including Denzel Boston and Germie Bernard.

Stribling tested well at the NFL Scouting Combine, though, and he had solid production in the collegiate ranks, topping 800 yards in 2024 at Oklahoma State and in 2025 at Ole Miss.

Since Evans, Kirk and Samuel will all be 30 or older at some point during the 2026 season, Stribling brings some much-needed youth and juice to the receiving corps.

He figures to be Purdy's primary deep threat in the passing game, and that could lead to a handful of big performances.

The potential is there for a more consistent role and production, though, particularly if any of the veterans ahead of Stribling on the depth chart get injured or regress.

Of course, Stribling will also have to contend with players at other positions for targets, including superstar running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle whenever he returns from a torn Achilles.

The possibility of low-output weeks means Stribling cannot be counted on for a big fantasy role out of the gates, but he is an especially strong pick in the later rounds for best-ball leagues, and he has re-draft value as well, provided the cost to select him isn't high.