Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud was disappointed to see former Florida receiver Ricky Pearsall come off the board at pick No. 31 to the San Francisco 49ers during Thursday’s 2024 NFL Draft.
No, Stroud didn’t necessarily feel like the 49ers reached for Pearsall but was rather bummed because he wanted to play with him in Houston. Stroud, speaking on Bleacher Report‘s NFL Draft show, called Pearsall “elite” and a good fit for San Francisco’s offense.
“Well, we probably wasn’t gonna get a receiver, but shoutout to Pearsall man,” Stroud said. “How was he even on their radar? I’m happy for him though. He wanted to go in the first round. He gets more money. I talked to him a couple times, man, congrats, bro, that’s big time. Bro, he’s elite. Especially in that offense, man, Kyle [Shanahan] is gonna dial it up for him. That’s why I felt like he was gonna fit in our system so well. … I wanted him bad.”
Pearsall had a productive two seasons with the Gators after transferring in from Arizona State. He nearly reached 1,000 yards receiving as a senior, topping out at 65 catches for 965 yards and four touchdowns. In five college seasons, Pearsall totaled 159 catches for 2,420 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also showed some ability running out of the backfield, rushing for five touchdowns.
Ricky Pearsall reunited with Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco
Thought to be a Day 2 pick by NFL Draft evaluators, Pearsall said he was shocked to get the phone call from the 49ers, whom he only briefly met with at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in February.
“Yeah, it is never a surprise for me I would say,” Pearsall said. “I was definitely shocked to see San Francisco pop up on my phone and I picked it up. Obviously, I was meeting everybody and hearing what everybody had to say. I was just super excited and blessed to have this opportunity to do this.”
For now, Pearsall is set to once again be teammates with Brandon Aiyuk. The two played together at Arizona State in 2019, and Pearsall said he spoke with him before jumping on the Zoom call with the San Francisco media.
“We have a really good relationship,” Pearsall said. “Actually, I just got off the phone with him before I got over here on this Zoom call. And he was just congratulating me. And just getting on the call and telling me over and over again, you’re a first-rounder man, soak it up, you deserve it. All the work that I put in because it’s been a lot of work put in since the last that we ran routes together.
“So, I feel like I’m a totally different player since the last time we saw each other. And he’s seen it from afar over when he was watching me at Florida, and I was watching him at the Niners. So, it’ll be really good to team back up with him and get active.”
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