The San Francisco 49ers made some changes to their wide receiver room this offseason, sending Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders for a fifth-round pick, signing Demarcus Robinson, drafting Jordan Watkins and Junior Bergen and losing Chris Conley to retirement.
On top of that movement, San Francisco may be without star wideout Brandon Aiyuk to start the season after he tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus in a 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 last year.
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With that, someone will need to step up early in the 2025 season, and that could be second-year wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who is preparing like he’s already the top guy on San Francisco’s depth chart.
“My mindset has not changed at all. I’m going to attack it the exact same way I always have,” Pearsall said on a recent episode of “49ers Talk” with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “No matter what place I’m at, no matter what the coach tells me, I still have that wide receiver 1 mindset. That’s just how I was raised. I’ve always been a hard worker. My parents raised me that way, and I’ve always had that same mindset no matter what position you’re in. That’s just how I attack my life in general.
“What makes our room really cool is that everyone has that mindset. [There’s] very healthy competition in there and it makes everybody better. I’m excited to see what our receiver room can do this year because I’m still very confident in that.”
The 49ers took the 24-year-old in the first round (No. 31 overall) of the 2024 NFL draft out of Florida, and after he missed the start of his rookie year due to taking a gunshot to the chest, Pearsall finished with 31 receptions for 400 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games.
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This year, Pearsall has plenty of challengers for that top spot in the wide receiver room, including Robinson, Watkins and Jauan Jennings. However, the former Gator should have the highest ceiling of the trio.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Ricky Pearsall is preparing to be the 49ers’ No. 1 WR in 2025
