49ers rookie WR just became one of SF's most important players

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is still dealing with the lingering effects of a knee injury that originally sidelined him in Week 4 last season. He was absent from Wednesday's practice and could be out for an extended period. That thrusts rookie second-round pick De'Zhaun Stribling firmly into the spotlight.

The early returns on Stribling were strong at training camp while the team went through its non-padded practices. Despite making a good early impression the plan never appeared to be for the No. 33 overall pick to have an outsized role in his first year. With Mike Evans and Pearsall ahead of him on the depth chart, the question with Stribling was whether he could nail down the WR3 job and take a majority of the snaps in three WR sets.

Now that expectation changes for as long as Pearsall is out.

There's no word yet on the exact timeline for Pearsall's return, but it's hard to be optimistic when reporting around the injury indicates the team is exploring all of its options to help Pearsall recover from the PCL injury he suffered a season ago.

With Pearsall out the onus is on Stribling to step into an expanded role where he's not just on the field in three WR looks, but to also hold down the No. 2 WR spot next to Evans. If it isn't Stribling, the pickings get slim quick. Christian Kirk is out with a hamstring strain. Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins are still unproven. Demarcus Robinson is better suited in a third or fourth WR role.

All eyes will turn to Stribling, who the 49ers selected after trading out of the first round with two trades to move down the board. His selection was a head-scratcher to draft analysts where even the most optimistic projections had him as a late second-round pick. By picking Stribling early in Round 2, the 49ers made a bet that he'd be a big-time contributor for them.

They had some runway to ramp him up into that bigger role as a rookie as long as Pearsall was healthy. If Pearsall is going to miss an extended period of time, the 49ers' offensive ceiling in the regular season will ride on how quickly Stribling is ready to take on WR2 duties.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers rookie WR just became one of SF's most important players

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