The San Francisco 49ers caught hell for taking Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling with their 1st pick in the 2026 NFL Draft — which could very well be another example of how head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch just know more about football than we do after Stribling thrilled in his preseason debut.
Stribling, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2nd round, led the 49ers with 7 receptions for 63 yards in a 19-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Thursday. He did so on just 8 targets, and had all 7 receptions in the 1st half.
CBS Sports NFL reporters John Breech and Zachary Pereles singled Stribling out as 1 of the NFL’s “Biggest Winners” following the 1st round of preseason games.
The 49ers play the 2nd of 3 preseason games on Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers – all 3 of the 49ers’ preseason games are on Thursdays this year.
From CBS Sports: “Kyle Shanahan made the decision to bench most of his starters against the Titans on Thursday, which makes sense, because training camp has been a battle of attrition for the 49ers. Everyone is injured. However, Stribling is healthy and he might have been the best offensive player on the field for the 49ers. He caught seven passes for 63 yards against the Titans and he did all of that in just one half of play. If you have a fantasy draft coming up, you might want to think about taking Stribling. With Ricky Pearsall out for the season, Stribling could definitely make a name for himself in San Francisco as a rookie.”
49ers Called Out for ‘Head Scratcher’ Draft Pick
As previously stated, the 49ers surprised everyone in the football-loving world by taking 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.”
It’s also probably a bad process to draft a position where, on paper at least, your team seemed to have plenty of depth, and there were other, more pressing positions of need on both sides of the ball.
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.
Now, however, with Pearsall out for the year and veteran free-agent signee Mike Evans already dealing with injury issues, it seems like a genius move.
NFL Draft Expert Tabbed Stribling for 2nd Round
Stribling was correctly 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 concerns went out the window.
“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.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post 49ers Rookie Called NFL’s ‘Biggest Winner’ Following Preseason Debut appeared first on HEAVY.