2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Profile: Ricky Pearsall, WR Florida
Ricky Pearsall didn’t accomplish much as a college wide receiver between Arizona State and Florida, but he has been a riser in the pre-draft process thanks to his performances at the Senior Bowl and the Combine. Film analysts will love his tape, but will fantasy football managers love drafting him in their rookie drafts?
The Stats
Images courtesy of Sports Reference.
Pearsall is a product of the Phoenix area and went to high school at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe. His father, Rick, was a college football wide receiver at Northern Arizona University, where his mother, Erin, played volleyball. A three-star recruit, he received offers from Air Force, Hawaii and Idaho, amongst other similar schools. He decided to stay in-state and in-town, attending Arizona State University.
He wasn’t utilized as part of the offense until his third year at ASU in 2021. He was Jayden Daniels’s lead receiver that season, pacing the team in receptions (48), yards (580) and receiving touchdowns (4). Pearsall decided to join Daniels in the transfer portal that off-season, choosing to join Florida after also considering Oregon.
With Anthony Richardson under center for the Gators, Pearsall led the team with 661 receiving yards and five touchdowns. With an astounding 20 yards per reception, Pearsall led the SEC in that category and finished fourth in the whole country. He also added some production with his legs, rushing it eight times for 113 yards and another touchdown. He had his best game in a loss against rival Florida State, catching five balls for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
2023 was a down season for the Gators. With Graham Mertz replacing Richardson under center, the team lost their final five games of the season to finish with a record of 5-7. Pearsall was a bright spot for the offense, setting career highs in receptions and receiving yards (65 and 965 respectively). He got more opportunities as a punt returner as well, averaging 11.5 YPR over 11 returns.
After a long and arduous journey through the college level, he declared for the NFL Draft at the end of the 2023 season. He chose to attend the Senior Bowl, where he did well in the practices.
Florida WR Ricky Pearsall has been a standout at the Senior Bowl pic.twitter.com/i8QhWA1c8o
— JM Football (@JomboyMediaFB) February 1, 2024
The Film
For more film of Ricky Pearsall, check out his DLF Profile.
Pearsall’s route-running ability immediately jumps out on film. It’s impressive, and it may even be the best in the entire wide receiver class. He uses his quick feet and deceptive movements to gain separation from defenders. He also does a really nice job diagnosing and attacking zone coverage, finding openings for easy receptions.
His best route appears to be short in breaking routes out of the slot, where he gets open quickly and provides an easy blitz-breaker for his quarterback. He ran about 70% of his routes out of the slot in college, and likely transitions to the NFL as a slot receiver only.
In the Senior Bowl video I posted in the last section, you can see his body control and ball-tracking abilities on display.
His hands, or hand in the video above, are excellent. Seriously, that may be one of the best catches anyone has ever made. Even when he’s not making the SportsCenter Top 10, his technique is sound. Hands out, in a diamond, snapping the ball out of the air. He only had two drops in his final season at Florida.
On the negative side, he isn’t strong at all. He can be overpowered at the line of scrimmage and on contested catches. Out of his 65 catches last season, he had 12 contested catches and he only caught six of them. This will not become any easier at the NFL level.
There’s also a question of his separation translating to the bigger and faster NFL. He made a lot of catches when he was wide open. He deserves credit for that, but it’ll be tougher to get so wide open in the pros.
The Measurables
Image courtesy of NFL.com.
Pearsall surprised everyone with his 4.41-second 40-yard dash. He doesn’t play fast on tape, especially in straight-line speed, but he ran the tenth-highest time at the drill, tied with Troy Franklin, who is considered much more of a speedster.
He really excelled in all of the drills, especially the all-important vertical jump. He jumped 42 inches, only a half-inch less than the highest jumpers in the class, Malik Washington and Jalen Coker.
Florida WR Ricky Pearsall (@S1ickSzn ) got BOUNCE, recording a 42” vertical
📸-@CP_Photo2004 @GatorsFB pic.twitter.com/RwOeF4YHkn
— New Era Prep (@EraPrep) March 2, 2024
The numbers were so dominant, he earned a 9.9 Relative Athletic Score from Kent Lee Platte. That puts him in the 98.9th percentile amongst all wide receivers scored from 1987 to 2024 (34th out of 3,188).
Ricky Pearsall is a WR prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 9.90 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 34 out of 3188 WR from 1987 to 2024.https://t.co/jff1C8sPXH pic.twitter.com/S4tPyqQrOh
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 27, 2024
He did well in the drills as well. The gauntlet looked solid and his routes were as sharp as ever. I noticed he did a really great job of getting his toes down on the sideline on a couple of plays to make sure he made the catch in bounds.
Size is obviously an issue for Pearsall, but we’ve seen plenty of players his size transition to the NFL just fine in the past few years. NFL Network made the comparison to Chris Olave during their Combine coverage. He’s about a half-inch shorter and a few pounds lighter than Pearsall, but they can play a very similar game. Olave has, of course, been incredible as an NFL wide receiver, so why can’t Pearsall?
Ricky Pearsall side by side with Chris Olave athletically 😳 pic.twitter.com/SXn5V85CDa
— Brandon Kravitz (@BrandonKravitz) March 3, 2024
The Value
Image courtesy of NFL Mock Draft Database.
Pearsall was ranked outside of the top 100 at the end of February, before the Combine, on NFL Mock Draft Database. Now that we’re all back from Indianapolis, he has cracked the top 50 and may even continue climbing. He’s even been mocked as a first-round pick in 5.3% of mocks.
It’s unlikely he’ll hear his name called on Thursday, but he’s a locked-in day two pick. He’d ideally go to a team that utilizes three wide receiver sets, as he’ll be restricted to the slot in the NFL.
Data from DLF One Quarterback ADP
In March mock drafts for one-quarterback leagues, he is the 66th-ranked wide receiver and 145th player overall. In superflex, he is the WR62 and the 156th overall. He is being drafted behind Khalil Shakir and Marvin Mims, and before Mike Williams and Treylon Burks.
Meanwhile, in rookie drafts, he is the 13th wide receiver going off the board. In 1QB he is going 23rd overall. The DLF Rankers have him in the exact same spot, 23rd overall and the WR13 in rookie rankings.
Dynasty Outlook
I’m very impressed by Ricky Pearsall and surprised he hasn’t gotten more love in the dynasty community. The NFL community has bought into the hype, as exposed by his mock draft standing above. He’s flirting with an early second-round pick and the Consensus Big Board at NFL Mock Draft Database has him as the number 10 wide receiver, not the 13th like the ADP and rankers have him.
His tape is incredible, his drive is insurmountable and his energy is contagious. I got to meet him at the NFL Combine and he oozed confidence with the media. You have to assume he interviewed really well with NFL teams.
The fact that he is a late-second-round pick in rookie drafts this year displays the strength of this draft class, especially at wide receiver. He is an outstanding value at that spot who could easily outproduce that draft value right away at the NFL. Pre-draft, there are nearly half a dozen wide receivers going ahead of Pearsall who I would take him ahead of. He’ll be a popular player on my dynasty teams if he stays at this ADP. The NFL Draft could, and I think will, change that.
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