TRAGEDY: Coach Kyle Shanahan is very disappointed and shocked people with immediate resignation today..

Ricky Pearsall is a vertical slot receiver with the speed and ball skills to be a weapon.

Pearsall is on the skinnier side at 6’0⅞” and 193 pounds, which is why Florida often deployed him from the slot and put him in motion. The Gators did their best to keep hands off Pearsall at the line of scrimmage.

Doing so helped unlock Pearsall’s speed. He does not have the instant top gear that elite speed threats do, but he keeps a great pace once he gets to stride out. That should be enough to make Pearsall dangerous on seams, posts and deep crossing routes in the NFL.

Pearsall’s best routes all attack down the field. He does not have the speed control or flexibility to thrive on curls, digs, comebacks and other sharp routes, but he can manipulate DBs in space and attack with an explosive crossover step. That shows up best when Pearsall can run posts and deep over routes, allowing him to attack the DB vertically and to one shoulder before snapping back across their face.

Pearsall shows impressive ball skills as well. His one-handed catch in traffic against Charlotte in 2023 stands out, but he made a number of other acrobatic catches over the years. Even besides the extraordinary catches, Pearsall is reliable.

At the same time, Pearsall does lack the size and strength to be a dominant ball-winner in contested-catch scenarios. Bigger, stronger cornerbacks can corral Pearsall at the catch point before he even gets a real chance to go up for the ball.

Pearsall’s long speed and hands give him the tools to blossom into a useful NFL receiver. However, his slight frame and uninspiring change-of-direction skills could give him a steep learning curve early on. Pearsall should be used similar to how the Jacksonville Jaguars deploy Christian Kirk.