The San Francisco 49ers are nearing Defcon one on the panic meter. The season is sinking, and they are looking for a silver lining to a lost season. That should be 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall. Yet the rookie wideout has been borderline invisible since October.

Most of Pearsall’s struggles can summarized by two events. The first was a shoulder injury away from the practice field that cost him most of his first offseason program. The second was a gunshot wound suffered during an attempted robbery that narrowly missed Pearsall’s heart and kept him away from the team for nearly two months.

A slow start was expected as Pearsall integrated himself, but as the 49ers’ offense continues to struggle, fans have one question:

Where is Ricky Pearsall?

Where is Ricky Pearsall?

Pearsall’s season started at an expected rate. He was targeted 15 times in his first three games and took a jet sweep for 39 yards to help clinch a Week 8 win vs. the Dallas Cowboys.

Following the 49ers’ bye week, Pearsall caught four passes for a career-high 78 yards on six targets in a win vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His performance felt like a jumping-off point that could kickstart his young career.

Instead, Pearsall has been close to invisible for the last three weeks.

From Week 11 to 13, Pearsall played 105 snaps. He saw just three targets and hauled in exactly zero receptions. He has not even seen his name called in the running game – a shocking decision for a 49ers’ offense that has failed to score over 20 points amidst a three-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel has touched the football 10 times in the past three weeks for 62 yards. For those counting, that is 3.3 touches and just under 21 yards per game.

So, why has Pearsall seen his production dip in recent weeks, and why has there been no effort to manufacture touches for the 2024 thirty-first overall pick?

Explaining Pearsall’s Reduced Role

The real answer is nobody knows, but quarterback Brock Purdy tried to explain Pearsall’s lack of involvement in the team’s offense.

“Obviously I’d love to get Ricky the ball as many times as we can,” quarterback Brock Purdy said on Friday. “I know that he’s explosive and he does a good job with creating separation in man coverage. So as a quarterback, it’s like, dude, for sure I want to get him the ball and I love the kid, he’s awesome. But for some reason, just with how the game has gone when I’ve been in there and stuff, I just haven’t been able to connect to him within the last three games. So for me, it’s not like I’m freaking out going, ‘alright, Ricky and I, our chemistry’s off’ this or that. That’s just how the game’s gone. Going through progressions, I’ve hit some other guys. I don’t know exactly why Ricky hasn’t been like a certain target in a certain play. It’s just I’m going through my progressions and that’s it. Going into a game, like I said, I want to get everybody the ball as best as I can. Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Ricky, all those guys deserve it and I want to play for them and get them the ball as much, but that’s just how the last three games have gone.”

San Francisco has plenty of mouths to feed, and Pearsall likely sits at the top bottom of the totem pole. But if Deebo continues to struggle, the team’s losing streak grows, and chemistry with Purdy is not the issue, then why is Pearsall not seeing the football?

The 49ers did not draft Pearsall to sit on the sideline behind Aiyuk, Samuel, and Jauan Jennings. He was meant to be an impact first-year player that helped push San Francisco closer to a Super Bowl.

Instead, in an offense searching for answers, Pearsall has become one of their biggest questions.