The San Francisco 49ers are counting on Ricky Pearsall, and there’s no reason fantasy owners shouldn’t do the same. Kyle Shanahan and his staff have been working Pearsall back in slowly at training camp following an offseason hamstring tweak, and they expect him to be one of Brock Purdy’s busier targets.

Deebo Samuel is gone, having been traded to the Washington Commanders, and Brandon Aiyuk is likely still a couple of months away from returning from a knee injury. That leaves Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Demarcus Robinson, second-year player Jacob Cowing and rookie Jordan Watkins competing for George Kittle’s scraps, with Pearsall and Jennings atop the depth chart. (Jennings has been nursing a calf injury, while Robinson likely faces a suspension for a DUI arrest last year.)

The 49ers and fantasy owners would love it if Pearsall could pick up where he left off at the end of last season. He had 14 catches — on 18 targets — for 210 yards and two touchdowns over the last two games, a strong ending to a rookie season that started with a gunshot wound through his right chest in an attempted robbery in San Francisco.

“Unfortunately, I revisit that every single night I go to bed,” Pearsall said. “I kind of carry that with me. Now it’s not as much as avoiding it and whether or not to revisit it. It’s more about how I deal with it and the light I put on it.

“It’s a positive light and things I can get out of that, to try to inspire other people. I’ve been doing a better job dealing with it.”

Pearsall is now wearing Samuel’s former No. 1 jersey, and he very well could take the 6.7 targets that Aiyuk averaged the last four years until the veteran returns.

The 6-foot-1 Pearsall is a quick-twitch receiver who can play outside and in the slot, beating cornerbacks to a spot. He twice met up with Purdy for offseason workouts to improve their chemistry and timing.

Pearsall is currently 36th among receivers in The Athletic’s rankings — atop Tier 6 — but there’s a path for him to finish higher than that, given the uncertainty around him in the 49ers’ receiving room.

Niners offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said Pearsall isn’t feeling any pressure to replace Samuel or Aiyuk.

“I think Ricky sees himself as a starter,” Kubiak said. “He wants to be a starting receiver. And whether BA’s out there or not, I think Ricky has that same expectation of himself, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s how he saw himself last year. And I think that’s just how he is naturally.”

The 49ers drafted Pearsall in the first round in 2024, so they feel he can step up. Fantasy managers should roll the dice on him becoming the fourth startable Niners offensive player, after Christian McCaffrey, Kittle and Jennings.

“The more Ricky’s out there, the more you see him, his route running, how polished it can become,” Kubiak said. “I think as the year went on last year, he just got so much better versus man-to-man coverage. The more physical DB play (he sees), Ricky gets better — and that excites me a lot. … He’s just got to stay out there and stay healthy and take care of his body.

“I think the sky’s the limit for him.”

(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)