Who Should I Start? Zay Flowers or Ricky Pearsall

Tuesday, June 3, 2:47 PM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers is coming off his first Pro Bowl campaign in just his second season in the NFL. The 2023 first-round pick out of Boston College snagged 74 of his 116 targets for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns in 17 games. Unfortunately, Flowers was banged up in the season finale against the Cleveland Browns and did not appear in either of Baltimore's postseason contests. Heading into Year 3, the Ravens are hoping to get Flowers more involved. "We just got to get him the ball more," offensive coordinator Todd Monken said after Tuesday's practice. "He's not only an outside receiver who has elite route-running skills, but he's unbelievable with the ball in his hands." Flowers ranked 19th in receiving yards last season despite finishing 28th in receptions and 23rd in targets. An uptick in target volume could give him fringe WR1 upside, and his target competition at wideout remains underwhelming.

Tuesday, June 10, 9:22 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) was healthy to take part in mandatory minicamp this week, but the team is being careful with him and want him to be ready for training camp in late July. It makes sense for the Niners to play it safe with the former first-rounder since fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk (knee) likely won't be ready for the start of the 2025 regular season. If the 24-year-old can return in training camp and develop chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy, he'll have plenty of opportunity as a starter in three-wide sets in his sophomore season in the NFL. Pearsall missed the first six games of his rookie season after being shot in the chest, but he was more involved late in the year with Aiyuk out. If healthy, he should make much more noise in 2025. RotoBaller has Pearsall ranked as the No. 45 fantasy wideout.