Why Matthew Berry Ranks 49ers' Ricky Pearsall A Top-70 Fantasy Football Player

Why Matthew Berry ranks 49ers' Ricky Pearsall a top-70 fantasy football player originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Ricky Pearsall is ready to lead the 49ers’ wide receiver corps, but is he also prepared to lead fantasy football teams?

NBC Sports’ Fantasy football guru Matthew Berry believes Pearsall can, and ranks the second-year pro wideout as his 68th-best fantasy player this season.

“The 49ers always have just a crazy amount of talent,” Berry told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “So, it’s not just the wide receivers, but it’s [Christian] McCaffrey out of the backfield, it’s George Kittle as a tight end, there’s also depth there. Just an embarrassment of riches, always with the 49ers offense.”

Pearsall, who ended last season with a handful of quality fantasy football performances, including a huge Week 17, which included eight receptions for 141 receiving yards and one touchdown catch against the Detroit Lions, obviously showed Berry everything he needed to see.

“He’s a kid, he’s first-round talent,” Berry told Maiocco. “Obviously, last year at this time, he was dealing with a lot in terms of what happened to him over the offseason but now 100 percent healthy, looked good down the stretch. He had five games last year with at least a 15 percent target share and in those five games, he averaged almost 70 yards a game.

“He averaged over 16 fantasy points per game and, at the moment, among wide receivers, he’s sort of the only game in town. To your point, Jauan Jennings, he’s dealing with the injury, there’s also concerns with the contract, he’s holding out a little bit. Deebo Samuel is now in Washington, Brandon Aiyuk is still injured, so Ricky Pearsall feels like he’s the No. 1 wide receiver for this 49ers offense.”

Additionally, Pearsall’s connection with 49ers star quarterback Brock Purdy makes the decision to draft the 24-year-old even easier.

“You think about that preseason game [against the Las Vegas Raiders], Brock Purdy only played one drive but on that drive, Pearsall had a 57 percent passing share. Over half of his passes went to Ricky Pearsall. It’s one drive, it’s small sample size but it’s all we have to go on… it just feels like right now, Ricky Pearsall is the No. 1 pass-catching target for Brock Purdy.”

If Pearsall is the top receiving target for Purdy and their connection stays strong all season, drafting the 49ers wideout could turn out to be a fantasy title-winning move.

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