Start or Sit? Ricky Pearsall’s Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook Could Surprise You

Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season is finally here and opening weekend will continue on Sunday with the San Francisco 49ers visiting the Seattle Seahawks for an NFC West showdown at 4:05 p.m. ET on FOX.

The 49ers’ aspirations for a return trip to the Super Bowl were derailed by injuries in 2024 and they ultimately finished with a disappointing 7-10 record. The offense will have a few returning faces stepping into bigger roles this season, one of which being second-year wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. He enters the year with an ADP (average draft position) in the 34-38 range among wide receivers across multiple scoring formats according to FantasyPros, so fantasy managers are high on him as a potential Flex option for the season.

Below, we’ll go over Pearsall’s outlook in fantasy football for Week 1.

Fantasy Football analysis: 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall

Pearsall was a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and was receiving plenty of hype heading into his rookie season before being shot in the chest during an attempted armed robbery just days before the start of the campaign. Miraculously, he was able to step onto the field for his debut in Week 7 and ended up making solid contributions to the team, catching 31 targets for 400 yards and three touchdowns.

With Deebo Samuel now in Washington and Brandon Aiyuk still recovering from a torn ACL/MCL, Pearsall is set to become a key piece of the offense in his second season in 2025 and we’ve already gotten glimpses of that. As Jeremy Wohlfart of Niner Noise pointed out, three of Brock Purdy’s five completions in the preseason went to the second-year wideout, indicating that the two have established a strong rapport heading into 2025. San Francisco has boasted one of the more effective passing attacks in the league with Purdy as the starter over the past few seasons and that could mean big things for Pearsall managers this year.

Start or sit in Week 1 standard/PPR leagues?

Start. The 49ers should have a sense of urgency with this being a divisional game in Week 1 and are going to want to make a statement by getting the offense established early. I expect Purdy to go to Pearsall early and often in this one and fantasy managers will be justified in putting him into their starting lineups right out the gate.