How Ricky Pearsall fits within the 49ers' WR drama (2024)

NOTE: For coverage of rounds 4-7, follow our NFL Draft Day 3 updates here.

Exactly 100 picks down, 157 to go in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The second and third rounds passed Friday without any major trades — and without any more quarterbacks coming off the board. After a record six QBs went in the first 12 picks Thursday, 88 consecutive picks have passed without a quarterback's name being called.

The Buffalo Bills opened the second round by selecting Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman at No. 33. Texas' Jonathon Brooks became the first running back taken, going to the Carolina Panthers at No. 46. And the night closed with Rice wide receiver Luke McCaffrey — brother of San Francisco 49ers star Christian — going to the Washington Commanders at No. 100.

Catch up below as The Athletic's staff broke down the fits and graded every pick. And watch below as Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Dane Brugler break down what we watched on The Athletic Football Show.

Required reading

• Draft grades for every pick of Rounds 2 and 3
• Best players still available
• Full pick-by-pick tracker

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Think of Ricky Pearsall as the guy the San Francisco 49ers drafted to replace Deebo Samuel. Or Brandon Aiyuk. Eventually.

One or the other. But probably not right away. Just whenever it becomes necessary, and yes, it will become necessary at some point. Got it?

It’s complicated! On a relatively muddled NFL Draft night for the 49ers’ present and future at the wide-receiver position, things did not get much clearer when the 49ers used the 31st pick to select Pearsall, a receiver out of Florida, who wasn’t projected to go that high and certainly doesn’t seem to be as talented as either Deebo or Aiyuk.

But the logic of this pick was spelled out if you listened to Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch explain on Thursday night why they took Pearsall and how he fits in their locker room and offense. It’s about his versatility, his aptitude for the position, his toughness and the 49ers’ certainty that he’ll be a well-rounded NFL receiver. He won’t be lost out there on Day 1 of rookie minicamp. He’s a “gym rat,” Shanahan said, which, if you know Shanahan, is about the highest praise he can give a player. Especially a WR, which is Shanahan’s old position.

Simply put, Pearsall won’t be needed right away if the 49ers hold onto Aiyuk and Deebo this offseason. But whenever the 49ers turn to him, Shanahan and Lynch believe Pearsall will be just fine. It might be this season, if the 49ers decide their contractual situation with Aiyuk is intractable, which could lead to a trade as early as Friday. Or if they decide to trade Deebo instead.

Most likely, the 49ers will hold onto both top WRs this season … but given what it will cost to keep Aiyuk around, the 49ers in that scenario would probably seriously consider trading or releasing Deebo next offseason. And at that point, Pearsall would be the obvious Deebo replacement at a fraction of the cost.

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It's an important question every draft night: What do these picks mean for fantasy football? Which rookies will make immediate impacts? Are they dynasty stashes? Will veterans see their values affected? I have your answers with all the fantasy football impacts.

See a full breakdown of how all 14 skill players drafted in the first round fit with their teams from a fantasy perpective.

C.J. Stroud’s phenomenal first-year aside, always temper rookie quarterback expectations, especially when joining a team coming off a 4-13 season. Jayden Daniels’ running ability will allow him to escape pressure and broken plays raise his initial floor. That’s good since Washington has questions along the offensive line, particularly at left tackle. Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson provide good targets, but everyone will face some learning curve in the first year with a new offensive coordinator.

Beyond the highlight tape abilities, Daniels’ biggest initial asset is experience, having started 53 games over five college seasons. That should eliminate (barring training camp struggles) any QB1 competition with free-agent signee Marcus Mariota. The No. 2 selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, Mariota is deep into the veteran backup/spot-starter phase of his career, having made only 19 starts since 2018. Jeff Driskel and Jake Fromm are part of the offseason roster with an opportunity to stick as third-string or on the practice squad.

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HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders didn’t take Phillip Buchanan, Fabian Washington, JaMarcus Russell, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Rolando McClain, D.J. Hayden, Gareon Conley, Clelin Ferrell, Johnathan Abram, Damon Arnette or Alex Leatherwood in the first round Thursday night.

While the selection of Georgia tight end Brock Bowers with the 13th pick was a bit of a head-scratcher, no one is questioning his talent or comparing him to all of the franchise’s huge swings-and-misses in the first round the last couple of decades. The Raiders had bigger needs at offensive tackle and cornerback, but general manager Tom Telesco said they “zeroed in on” Bowers as he fell out of the top 10 as more and more quarterbacks went off the board.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Bowers was one of the most electric players in college football, averaging 14.5 yards per catch and 10.2 yards per carry in his three years at Georgia (finishing with 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns). He is a matchup nightmare, thanks to his explosiveness out of cuts, route running, speed and ball-snatching ability.

“We’re looking to add more playmakers to the offense, and they come in all shapes and sizes,” Telesco said. “He was a high-level player in college, he’s 21, still very young. … He’s got some natural football skill combined with some high-level athletic ability and speed, so we’re really happy to have him.”

If Raiders fans thought they were shocked Thursday night, Bowers was speechless.

The tight end from Georgia was watching the draft from his family’s home in Fairfield, Calif., and didn’t know who was going to draft him as he fell out of the top 10. But the Raiders?

“I wasn’t really sure what was happening,” Bowers said on a conference call after he was selected.

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JC Latham fills a glaring hole for the Titans, whether he ends up at left tackle or right tackle — and in case anyone missed it, GM Ran Carthon and coach Brian Callahan made it abundantly clear that they view him as the Titans’ next left tackle. They also acknowledged that it’s possible he could play on the right side if the switch to left tackle doesn’t take. In the short term, that’s a challenge because the Titans don’t have an obvious starter at left tackle and aren’t drafting anyone else who can plug in and do it right away. If Latham is a great tackle for many years, one side or other, this pick is validated.

Rookie impact

Latham should start right away, and it should be at left tackle barring enormous struggles with the switch during the preseason. As he pointed out in a call with reporters Thursday, he was all left tackle before getting to college and was a top-5 recruit nationally coming into Alabama. College was his first experience on the right side. If he transitions back well, the next question will be how he deals with some of the best pass rushers in the NFL, and if he can shed some of the penalties he picked up in college — 18 in the past two seasons.

Fast evaluation

Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers taking Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt at No. 5 tossed the Titans’ most widely predicted scenario out the window. Of course, mock drafts aren’t reality, and The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini posted on X that Latham was Titans offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s “favorite player in the draft.”

It’s fair to question not filling the most glaring hole on the team with a player who played that position in college. But if Latham is as special as the Titans say he is, he’ll play it in the NFL. After two seasons of futility at the position, the Titans have a gifted, physical, enthusiastic draftee as a potential answer.

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The Chicago Bears, as expected, took quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick Thursday.

Why Williams can succeed

The former USC star was considered the best player in the draft and the top QB prospect since Trevor Lawrence. Compared to his draft class, Williams is in his own tier with his talent.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles has also quickly flipped the organization’s narrative. The Bears entered the past couple of seasons with poor supporting casts, but a surprising 5-3 finish validated their more recent additions, particularly the trade deadline acquisition of pass rusher Montez Sweat. That defense should take pressure off Williams.

And then there’s the obvious factor. The Bears have wide receivers D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen and No. 9 selection Rome Odunze, along with tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett. They have a video game offense, and four of those five skill players weren’t on the roster 14 months ago.

Not only do the Bears believe they have their first franchise quarterback in decades, but they also dropped him into an ideal situation.

Why Williams can fail

There were questions about the way Williams handled the pre-draft process, particularly the anecdote of someone from his inner circle asking about ownership stake. Though personnel executives polled by The Athletic believed those concerns were overblown, Williams will have to prove to his teammates he’s all about football and not just the business opportunities that come with the game.

There are a couple of coaching elements, too. Head coach Matt Eberflus seems to be in good standing after the late-season surge, but a rocky 2024 could shatter his job security. Conversely, if the Bears play well and Williams is a major reason why, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron could draw head-coaching looks. It’s tough to put a QB in a spot where they’re constantly recycling coordinators.

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Michael Penix Jr. did not take a top-30 visit to Flowery Branch before Atlanta drafted him with the eighth pick Thursday. The Falcons only attended a 45-minute workout and met with him at the combine.

It’s almost unheard of for a quarterback taken in the first to not be on a team's top-30 list.

In the end, the Falcons felt comfortable with the work they did.

It’s a great day to be a quarterback.

It’s also apparently a just-as-opportune day to be the guy who catches passes from the quarterback, who blocks for the quarterback and, generally, stands on the same side of the line of scrimmage as the quarterback.

The 2024 NFL Draft opened with a record-breaking number of offensive picks. It started when three quarterbacks — Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye — were picked at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Within the top 10 picks, five quarterbacks — including Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy — were selected, marking the first time in the common draft era (since 1967) that happened.

Teams kept calling on offensive weapons until pick No. 15, when the Indianapolis Colts nabbed edge rusher Laiatu Latu. It was the first time in draft history a defensive player was not taken within the top 10.

It was also the latest selection that the first defensive player was taken off the board.

Before Latu, Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn was the latest defensive pick to be taken in the draft. He was taken at No. 8 by the team in 2021.

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The surreal aspect of the big media debut of Bill Belichick’s post-New England Patriots coaching career was he shared a set with a character named “Mad Mel” on “The Pat McAfee Show” for its NFL Draft coverage.

On the McAfee program, contributor Ty Schmit impersonates ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., but actually does it in a more cutting way than the current Kiper. It is good-natured, but it harkens back to when an edgier Kiper began to make his legend as the ultimate draftnik more than four decades ago.

While a bit odd to hear the Mad Mel character’s commentary precede Belichick’s on draft picks, it actually was apropos.

Belichick’s analysis was like vintage Kiper Jr., with one difference. Belichick is arguably the greatest NFL coach in history, so his words had much more impact. In his opening act, Belichick came to play.

At 72, Belichick told everyone what he really thought about the 20-something-year-olds being drafted on services he may have not known or feigned knowing as a coach, when he famously seemed unaware — “SnapFace,” anyone — of new platforms, like ESPN+, YouTube and TikTok, which were where the McAfee program aired on Thursday.

It is part of the Belichick media blitz that will make him millions as he bides his time in hopes of returning to the sidelines again. Sporting a blue suit with a pink tie and handkerchief, he didn’t hold back, no more so than about the six quarterbacks drafted in the first round.

It was especially intriguing when he discussed his old team’s choice of North Carolina’s Drake Maye with the third pick in the draft.

“Drake compares himself a lot to Josh Allen,” Belichick said. “He’s been doing that for quite a while. We’ll see about that.”

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Sean Payton plopped down in a rental car filled with other Broncos coaches and scanned the faces inside.

The group had just wrapped up a private workout with quarterback Bo Nix in Eugene, Ore., in March, and Payton didn’t hide his enthusiasm about what he had just witnessed.

“I just looked around (the car) and said, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Payton said.

Over the course of 80 passes and the meeting before he took the field, Nix had confirmed everything Payton, general manager George Paton and other team evaluators saw as they dug into the tape and did the background work necessary for the weighty decision of drafting a franchise quarterback.

Accuracy. Quick release. Arm strength. Size. Intelligence.

The Broncos had loaded Nix down with a cache of information at 5 p.m. the day before they were set to meet at 9 a.m. When Nix began spitting back the install, Payton said he was convinced the quarterback had “spent the (previous) night in a hotel room with the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign, the coffee on.”

There was more work to be done when the group touched down in Denver, but the Broncos began to believe they had found their new quarterback.

Five weeks after he watched the Broncos drive away, Nix picked up the phone Thursday night as it rang with a 303 area code. He was going to Denver, the 12th pick in the draft that featured a record run on quarterbacks. Nix was the sixth signal caller selected in the first round, marking the first time in the modern draft era that many players at the position had gone that quickly.

“I had an idea because they showed interest,” Nix said when asked during a conference call Thursday whether he thought Denver would be his draft-day destination. “They came out to Eugene; they had some Zooms and all that stuff. To be honest with you, you never know until you get the phone call and you hear your name called on TV. I just can’t say how excited I am to be a part of this organization.”

The Broncos have only drafted a quarterback higher than the 12th pick once, when they drafted Jay Cutler in 2006. Nix is the first quarterback drafted by Denver in the opening round since 2016, when former general manager John Elway traded up to draft Paxton Lynch.

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The NFL will play its first game in Brazil this season when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers meet in Sao Paolo on Friday, Sept. 6.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said before Thursday's draft that he anticipates the league's international expansion to continue.

“I honestly think we’ll be playing 16 games internationally if you go 10 years out,” Goodell told ESPN, according to the Associated Press. “I think we’ll try to get to eight or nine in the next couple years.”

The NFL has five international games on the 2024 schedule — three in England, one in Germany and the Brazil game.

The third-round order:

• 65. Carolina Panthers
• 66. Arizona Cardinals
• 67. Washington Commanders
• 68. New England Patriots
• 69. Los Angeles Chargers
• 70. New York Giants
• 71. Arizona Cardinals (from Tennessee)
• 72. New York Jets
• 73. Dallas Cowboys (from Detroit through Minnesota)
• 74. Atlanta Falcons
• 75. Chicago Bears
• 76. Denver Broncos
• 77. Las Vegas Raiders
• 78. Washington Commanders (from Seattle)
• 79. Atlanta Falcons (from Jacksonville)
• 80. Cincinnati Bengals
• 81. Seattle Seahawks (from New Orleans through Denver)
• 82. Indianapolis Colts
• 83. Los Angeles Rams
• 84. Pittsburgh Steelers
• 85. Cleveland Browns
• 86. Houston Texans (from Philadelphia)
• 87. Dallas Cowboys
• 88. Green Bay Packers
• 89. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• 90. Arizona Cardinals (from Houston)
• 91. Green Bay Packers (from Buffalo)
• 92. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from Detroit)
• 93. Baltimore Ravens
• 94. San Francisco 49ers
• 95. Buffalo Bills (from Kansas City)
• 96. Jacksonville Jaguars (compensatory pick)
• 97. Cincinnati Bengals (compensatory pick)
• 98. Pittsburgh Steelers (compensatory pick, from Philadelphia)
• 99. Los Angeles Rams (compensatory pick)
• 100. Washington Commanders (compensatory pick, from San Francisco)

The second-round order:

• 33. Buffalo Bills (from Carolina)
• 34. New England Patriots
• 35. Arizona Cardinals
• 36. Washington Commanders
• 37. Los Angeles Chargers
• 38. Tennessee Titans
• 39. Carolina Panthers (from New York Giants)
• 40. Washington Commanders (from Chicago)
• 41. Green Bay Packers (from New York Jets)
• 42. Houston Texans (from Minnesota)
• 43. Atlanta Falcons
• 44. Las Vegas Raiders
• 45. New Orleans Saints (from Denver)
• 46. Indianapolis Colts
• 47. New York Giants (from Seattle)
• 48. Jacksonville Jaguars
• 49. Cincinnati Bengals
• 50. Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)
• 51. Pittsburgh Steelers
• 52. Los Angeles Rams
• 53. Philadelphia Eagles
• 54. Cleveland Browns
• 55. Miami Dolphins
• 56. Dallas Cowboys
• 57. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• 58. Green Bay Packers
• 59. Houston Texans
• 60. Buffalo Bills
• 61. Detroit Lions
• 62. Baltimore Ravens
• 63. San Francisco 49ers
• 64. Kansas City Chiefs

All rounds will be televised on ESPN/ABC and NFL Network and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.

The second round begins at 7 p.m. ET on Friday.

The Vikings found their quarterback of the future. Once Kirk Cousins departed in free agency, signing with the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota set its sights on finding a young player that coach Kevin O’Connell believed in and could groom. J.J. McCarthy is that guy.

The Vikings are planning to take a methodical approach to his development. That’s why they signed Sam Darnold for $10 million. How long McCarthy needs to sit and learn is likely dependent both on his training camp performance and Darnold’s overall command.

Depth-chart impact

The Vikings’ depth chart was always set up to add a young quarterback. Darnold and Nick Mullens are likely fixtures, while Jaren Hall will be entering his second season as a developmental option. The Vikings would not have signed Darnold if they did not expect him to play, but ultimately McCarthy will ascend to the starter’s spot this year or next.

Fast evaluation

The Vikings found their future quarterback. They did not have to settle for the fifth- or sixth-best option. And they got a young, productive, winning player. McCarthy went 36-2 in high school and 27-1 in college at Michigan. He is a former hockey prodigy who possesses functional athleticism and a strong arm. Plug him into an infrastructure full of talented skill players and with a highly regarded coaching staff, and the platform for development is positive.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Michael Penix Jr. was as surprised as anyone when the Atlanta Falcons selected him with the No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

“I’m not going to say I knew that was coming,” the former University of Washington quarterback said. “I knew when the phone call came through. I had no idea (before that).”

Not many people did. The Falcons were widely expected to focus on defense during the draft after signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to the largest total value free-agency deal in NFL history in March — a four-year contract that guarantees Cousins $90 million over the next two years and could pay him as much as $180 million over the course of the deal.

The 35-year-old Cousins, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, wasn’t aware Penix would be the pick until a Falcons official called him minutes before to inform him, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, who reported Cousins was “stunned.”

That was a fairly universal reaction. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts was being interviewed on a Bleacher Report broadcast when Atlanta made its pick.

“I’m very shocked, I’m not going to lie. I did think we were going defense,” Pitts said. “I think this is great for (Penix) to learn from such a professional like Kirk and see how he operates on and off the field. He’s a great young player. I can’t wait to get him in the building. This is a good one. I like this one.”

Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris declined to address the specifics of their conversation with Cousins.

“Reactions are pretty private,” Morris said. “He got called on the clock because of the sensitive time and the issues you have going on. There’s never a right time to talk to a quarterback about those things, and reactions are always going to be private unless Kirk decides to tell you some of those things. But he’s a competitor just like we all are, and you can expect those things to go like you would think.”

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