Wide Receiver · San Francisco 49ers

Ricky Pearsall

No. 1 · 3rd season

The injury that wouldn't leave finally forced the issue

Ricky Pearsall's season is over before it started — and the door closing this time is surgery.

Pearsall came into the league as a first-round pick in 2024, the kind of investment a franchise makes when it believes in someone's future. He was already building toward what that future could look like when a PCL injury began quietly following him around. It lingered. It waited. And now it has won.

The San Francisco 49ers announced Pearsall will have surgery to repair the ligament, ending his 2026 season and placing him on injured reserve. The team also brought wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. back on a one-year deal, a move tied directly to the gap Pearsall's absence leaves in the receiver room.

For a first-round pick still trying to establish himself, losing a full season to a lingering injury is a real cost. These are the years a young player is supposed to be getting reps, building trust with his quarterback, becoming someone the team leans on. Instead, Pearsall waits again.

The surgery is the beginning of the next chapter — but first he has to sit through a whole season and watch it happen without him.

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