If you want to know what a bust is, we have a good comparison.
San Francisco 49ers social media can provide you with some laughs. Sometimes, the negativity can get to you; sometimes, it’s so laughably bad you can enjoy the moment.
In this case, it’s 2024 first-round pick, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. Before the Detroit Lions game, it seemed like some people were down on him for whatever reason. Even calling him a bust. Maybe it was the stretch of games between the Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he had fewer catches. Maybe the frustrating disappointment that is the 2024 49ers had Pearsall a part of it by association. Maybe fans just wanted something more from a kid who was shot in the chest in September.
Saying Pearsall’s season was a disappointment would not be an accurate statement. Saying, “It was disappointing what happened to Pearsall,” would be a much more solid description. Because what happened, a robbery attempt that left him with a gunshot wound in his chest, is a gig nobody should be in line for. And it was an unfortunate injury that kept him out until Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
And in that game? Well, Pearsall did something: in the second quarter, he got two targets. Pearsall caught the ball on that second target and got six (6) yards.
At that moment, in that quarter, Ricky Pearsall had more yards on that reception than the entire rookie season of the 49ers’ 2012 first-round pick A.J. Jenkins.
Do you want another comparison? Let’s go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. Everyone remembers this catch. That was another moment. At that moment, Pearsall had more touchdowns (1) than Jenkins had in his entire three-year career. So there are games—in fact, there are quarters—where Ricky Pearsall has more touchdowns than A.J. Jenkins has his entire career.
Other career-shattering numbers? Well, Pearsall has 331 yards receiving in 2024, with one game to go, compared to Jenkins’ 223 career yards receiving.
We haven’t even gotten to the Detroit Lions yet. Pearsall’s 141 yards and single touchdown were a highlight of what was a dismal game. If anyone had questions about Pearsall, that may have gone to rest after Detroit ended.
So why am I bringing up Jenkins? Because that is what a bust looks like. You knew something was wrong when he wasn’t utilized the entire season. 2012 was a wide receiver room with Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn Jr., Randy Moss, Kyle Williams, Mario Manningham, and Jenkins. That’s not horrible, but it certainly doesn’t compare to 2024’s room of Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings, among others. In a wide receiver room like 2012, Jenkins could have found a reception or two, especially with Manningham and Williams on injured reserve. He didn’t.
No one knows what Pearsall’s career will be like. Maybe there’s a sophomore slump? Maybe he explodes with a proper offseason and doesn’t have an unfortunate event like that September 1 robbery attempt? The one thing we do know is Pearsall is far, far from a bust. He isn’t even disappointing.
What was disappointing was what happened to him. He still put some solid games in anyway.