Who Should I Start? Jaylen Waddle or Ricky Pearsall

Saturday, October 3, 6:35 PM

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Ricky Pearsall (right knee) is working his way back from a PCL injury that will sideline him for the entire 2026 season. Injuries have plagued the start of Pearsall's career, but we certainly won't discredit him for the gunshot wound that forced him to miss time as a rookie in 2024. With that being said, he will have played in just 20 of his first 51 career regular-season games, calling his long-term durability into question. He's averaging a modest 5.0 catches, 46.4 receiving yards, and 0.2 touchdowns per game in his career, and he has yet to reach 100 career receptions and 1,000 career receiving yards. Upon his return from injury next year, Pearsall will slot into the No. 2 receiver role (at best) behind Mike Evans, and it's still too early to tell whether he'll even be ready for Week 1. At just 26 years old, there's still plenty of time for Pearsall to get back on track as a solid dynasty receiver, but for now, we wouldn't blame managers for trying to trade him away and recoup some of their initial investment.