The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the most unlucky teams all season long. Despite a plethora of injuries ravaging both their offensive and defensive sides of the ball, they have found a way to remain a threat in the NFC, entering the playoffs with a 12-5 record.
Unfortunately, the postseason isn’t giving them a chance at a do-over, as they walk into a Wild Card round matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles with a banged-up roster. However, one of the biggest names missing from the lineups, as fans found out before the game, was Ricky Pearsall.
Ricky Pearsall is Missing the Playoff Opener as well
Taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Pearsall was supposed to be the next great wide receiver for the 49ers. While the potential has been clear to see, availability has been a major concern for the talented wide receiver in his first two seasons
After suiting up in 11 games as a rookie, he has been even less available this year, with just nine games played. For an offense that needed all the help it could get, the sophomore wasn’t able to give them the safety valve San Francisco needed.
Even in the nine games he did play, he was held to under four targets on three separate occasions, finishing with just 20 receiving yards combined in that trifecta of games. However, when he was available, the talent level was immediately apparent.
In his six other games, he tallied 508 receiving yards, with two separate 100+ yard games on the year. According to PFSN’s WR Impact Metric, Pearsall finished the regular season as the 19th-ranked receiver in the league. However, it did not alleviate the injury concerns that have made him so unreliable throughout his career.
That continued in the playoffs as well, as Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported on X, “49ers-Eagles inactives. No Lane Johnson for Philly. No Ricky Pearsall for 49ers. Trent Williams is active for SF.”
This season, a knee injury, specifically a PCL sprain, has haunted Pearsall all season long. He has missed eight separate games as a result of the injury, which has reaggravated on multiple occasions throughout the year.
The most recent example occurred in the game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 15, which led to him being taken out of the game. Despite a crucial Week 18 clash against the Seattle Seahawks, which could have given the Niners the one-seed and home field throughout the playoffs, Pearsall wasn’t able to make it back into the lineup.
