The San Francisco 49ers would love if the answer to their wide receiver problems came in the form of 2026 2nd-round pick De’Zhaun Stribling.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley believes Stribling could be the player who picks up the slack for a disastrous free-agent signing (Brandon Aiyuk) and a disastrous 1st-round pick (Ricky Pearsall) — both of whom will be under contract with the 49ers this season but not playing in actual games.
Buckley placed Stribling at the front of his list of the NFL’s “Top Sleeper Candidates” in 2026.
“Rookie receivers haven’t always had the easiest time finding the field under Kyle Shanahan, but Stribling could be a mold-breaker,” Buckley wrote on August 7. “His blend of speed and route-running feel like perfect system fits, and the Niners need to improve their yards after catch. With Ricky Pearsall out for the season, and Mike Evans already battling the injury bug, opportunity could knock early and often for Stribling.”
Not Everyone Fan of 49ers Rookie Wide Receiver
The 49ers surprised everyone in the football-loving world by drafting Stribling with the opening pick of the 2nd round (No. 33 overall).
After a full offseason of moves, the Stribling pick is still what’s befuddling NFL experts, including ESPN’s Seth Walder, who singled out drafting Sibling as the move he disliked the most for the 49ers in handing out his annual offseason grades.
“Jauan Jennings left in free agency (for cheap) for the Vikings, but the 49ers also added Christian Kirk and used its first draft selection on Stribling at pick No. 33,” Walder wrote on June 30. “The Stribling selection was a bit of a head-scratcher. He’d been a late riser, but this was a reach — and reaching in the draft is bad process.”
Stribling won’t exactly be cheap, either. As the 1st pick of the 2nd round, he’s getting relatively big money compared to years past — a 4-year, $13.3 million contract.
NFL Draft Expert Tabbed Stribling for 2nd Round
Stribling was projected as a 2nd-round pick by NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein in his pre-draft evaluation — just not the very 1st pick of the 2nd round.
Part of the hesitancy to draft Stribling so high was that he never had a true breakout season in 3 college stops at Washington State, Oklahoma State, and Ole Miss. After he checked in at 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, then ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash … a lot of those previous concerns went out the window.
It’s Stribling’s speed that almost certainly made him so attractive to the 49ers from the jump.
“The Niners didn’t just need a receiver, they needed to add some juice to that room after finishing last season without a single offensive player breaking the 20 mph mark with the ball in his hands, according to NFL Next Gen Stats,” ESPN’s Nick Wagoner wrote on April 25. “Stribling should help in that regard after running a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the combine. That speed should help him get on the field right away even if he’s not a day one starter.”
For all of Stribling’s speed, it still seems like a reach to have taken him where they did — Zierlein also predicted he’d most likely be a WR4 to begin with. That seems like a player the 49ers could have gotten in the 3rd or 4th round — like where the Baltimore Ravens used consecutive picks on USC wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane and Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt.
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