Who Should I Start? Matthew Golden or De'Zhaun Stribling

Thursday, August 6, 9:21 AM

San Francisco 49ers second-round rookie wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling (hamstring) is in uniform for the team's training camp practice on Thursday, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The 49ers are once again already one of the most banged-up teams in the NFL early in training camp, with receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee) already ruled out for the 2026 season. In addition, Mike Evans (quadriceps) and Christian Kirk (calf) are nursing injuries, which will give Stribling a nice opportunity to work with the first-team offense if he's allowed to do team drills on Thursday. The 23-year-old Ole Miss product has missed practices recently with a tight hamstring, but he appears to be improving and should be ready for preseason action. What he lacks in physical ability, Stribling makes up for with a high football IQ, and he figures to start in three-wide sets in his first NFL season now that Pearsall is done for the year. Stribling will probably still go undrafted in 12-team fantasy leagues, but he's becoming a more interesting late-round sleeper in single-year formats in 2026.