Ricky Pearsall broke out at Arizona State in his third season with a 28% dominator rating in 2021, tallying 580 yards and 4 TDs. Jayden Daniels was his starting QB after a 2020 season that was limited to four games due to the pandemic.
After transferring to the SEC, the 6-foot-1 and 189-pound WR continued to succeed over the next two years at Florida, with dominator ratings of 25% from 2022-2023, finishing with 963 receiving yards and 4 TDs in his final season as a Gator.
In 2022, he was Anthony Richardson's No. 1 WR and out-produced future NFL draft pick, Justin Shorter. He averaged nearly 20 yards per catch as the team's slot WR.
On the FantasyPros Football Podcast, our very own Thor Nystrom sat down with Pearsall to talk further about his route-running prowess and "ludicrous" hands.
He's an older prospect, considering he will be 24 years old this season. And the other concern is how he can separate himself from his future NFL teammates when it comes to his target competition. His target share over expectation (0.9%) ranked 36th in the class.
But he turned heads at the NFL Scouting Combine with string metrics across the board. 4.41 40-yard dash, 42″ vertical jump, 129″ broad jump, 4.05 20-yard shuttle (89th percentile) and 6.64 3-cone drill (93rd percentile).
To me, Pearsall's experience as a fifth-year senior and refined game makes him a high-floor player who can get hit the get-go from Day 1, but he may not have any more ceiling to unlock unless he lands with a truly elite NFL passer. So even though Slick Rick hit the jackpot Night 1 of the NFL Draft with first-round draft capital in an offense that schemes WRs in the best way and takes advantage of their strengths... I am somewhat skeptical of how high Pearsall's ceiling is. Especially if Samuel/Aiyuk remain on the roster.
by in FantasyMay 3, 2024