Kyle Shanahan celebrated Ricky Pearsall for finally coming into his own in Week 17.
Heading into the Week 17 edition of Monday Night Football, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was catching strays left and right, trending on social media for all of the wrong reasons.
But why? Was it because of his stat line? Or did it have to do with his shooting earlier in the season? Well, as it turns out, Pearsall’s crime was that Ladd McConkey existed and was playing out of his mind for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Now granted, will the 49ers’ rookie and McConkey be linked forever because of where they were drafted? Yes, yes, they will, as will players like Ja’Lynn Polk for that measure, too. Fortunately, Pearsall got some semblance of revenge on the haters on Monday Night Football, catching eight of the ten balls thrown his way for 141 yards and a touchdown, marking only his second trip to the endzone of the season.
Was this a true breakout game for Pearsall, where he put everything together? Or was this simply the culmination of weeks of hard work, with results finally matching his preparation? Well, in Kyle Shanahan’s opinion, it’s the latter, though he’s proud of Pearsall for producing all the same.
“More of a culmination. I think it’s so, that’s the hardest thing with wide receivers in this day and age, that everyone’s judged off of their stats which can tell a lot sometimes, but that’s just when they get the ball or not, and that’s not always based off of what they do. That’s based off of circumstances that happen with the other 21 players on the field,” Shanahan told reporters.
“Because there’s a lot, you can play a really good game and have no numbers and there’s nothing you did wrong about it, but people act like you didn’t because you need to see those numbers from guys when they touch the ball. So, I was happy that he got more opportunities, that it worked out that way, and when he did he came through with them and showed the stuff that we like about him so that everyone could see it.”
Heading into the game with just 190 yards to his name over ten contests with three starts, Pearsall’s rookie season was really starting to look like a disappointment, even if some of that had to do with the unfortunate circumstances he had to deal with to start off the season. While his huge Week 17 game will certainly help his cause from a production standpoint, unless he has a similar effort in the regular season finale, he will still be many hundreds of yards behind McConkey, Brian Thomas Jr., and many of the players drafted around him.
Granted, there are still players who produced less as rookies, as Polk has been rough in New England, and AD Mitchell hasn’t done much better in Indianapolis. Still, a strong showing in Week 18 might be just what the doctor ordered for some much-needed optimism in San Francisco after what has otherwise been an incredibly disappointing season.
