San Francisco 49ersOur read
Written Sun 12:01 am Central, for week 6
Ricky Pearsall is on injured reserve on Sunday's report, so he does not play in week 6 of 2026, and that settles everything before Monday's 7:15 pm Central home game against Washington. He hasn't appeared in any of weeks 1 through 5 this season and no game of his is on the record yet. The matchup he'd have wanted, 31st of 32 against WRs at 41 PPR points a game, goes unused by him. Keep him on your roster and cover the spot this week with a receiver who's actually active.
Written Oct 18, from his facts through last season
He has not played a snap this season. Weeks 1 through 5 of 2026 all went by without him, and he sits on IR with the bye in week 8 still ahead, so there is no game to circle even after an activation. Our number before the season was 22 points built on 3 expected games, a 7.3 points a game pace, and that was us leaning on his history: 9 games played in 2025, 11 in 2024, and the missing weeks keep piling up.
The talent case was real, to be fair. His target share climbed from 13.8% in 2024 to 18.4% in 2025 while he ran 78.2% of the snaps, good for WR32 among qualifying receivers, and he beat the position's weekly median in 6 of 9 games. But the red-zone work never came, just 4 red-zone touches and a 7.3% share of his own touches, and the room around him is crowded. McCaffrey and Kittle combined for 45% of the targets in 2025, and now Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel Sr. sit above him on the depth chart, where he is listed ninth among SF receivers. Among players in his spot, that kind of crowded room cost 0.9 points a game the next season. Receivers coming off a 9.8 points a game season have seen points a game fall 1.2 the next year on average, which docks him again. And the low weeks pile up too: 15 points in only 2 of his 9 played weeks of 2025, with a worst of 1 point in week 11 of 2025.
We would let the roster spot go elsewhere. If a desperate manager wants him, fine, but holding an IR receiver who ranks below every available player at his position is not worth it through week 6 of 2026.