3 49ers players who impressed in OTAs and Minicamp

The pre-pre-preseason window has come to a close for the San Francisco 49ers. Organized team activities and veteran minicamp have concluded, with training camp next on the docket in 40 or so days.

Given the unpadded nature of these practices, and limitations (one-one-ones are not allowed), there are only so many things one can glean. At least, that’s if we are all being honest and not working ourself up into hot take fevers over a few reps.

That’s all to say, there’s very little to take away from either of the lines at this stage, and it makes it difficult to evaluate linebackers, given that they can’t really get involved.

Out of the remaining group, there were three clear standouts.

Ricky Pearsall
With Brandon Aiyuk holding out, Pearsall has shown himself to be the best wide receiver the 49ers have. He is the most polished, the most immediately capable, well-rounded professional.

Yes, that includes Deebo Samuel, who has little to no ability to separate from man coverage and excel at some of the nuances of true receiver play. He is an after-catch monster, and flawed before it. That doesn’t change how dominant he can be. It’s just the reality of him as a player. Re-watch the Trent McDuffie masterclass against him in the Super Bowl if you think otherwise.

Pearsall has shown he is a dude. He snaps off at the top of his routes with precision and borderline vitriol at the earth. He consistently separates against tough coverage and has had excellent battles with a suddenly very talented 49ers secondary.

He is everything he showed himself to be in college: a well-rounded, smart receiving prospect with elite athleticism and every reason to believe he can be a day one starter. The fact that Kyle Shanahan, who often has rookies – who are swimming in a flooding brook of information – is working him at all three receiving positions (Aiyuk’s split end, X spot, Samuel’s flanker, Z spot, and Jauan Jennings’ slot, Y spot) tells you all you need to know about his ability to play anywhere, and what the 49ers think of his potential to learn all three positions.

This isn’t going to be a guy that gets just 10 or 20 targets this season. He will get looks. We’ll see how he progresses through training camp, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see the ball come his way at least 50 times this season, even with all the weapons the 49ers have. He’s that good.

And if they try to implement Samuel in the backfield a bit more regularly, especially as a means to stay Christian McCaffrey, or just to rotate Samuel out (especially in man-likely looks), Pearsall will be involved. Pearsall just seems too good already, even in this crowded offense, to not get two or three targets a game.

Renardo Green
The man opposite Ricky Pearsall on Wednesday in a rep that ended in a pass breakup, and a stumbling Pearsall? Renardo Green.

This is an assessment from someone who was extremely high on both Pearsall and Green coming into the draft, and mocked him to the 49ers at 63 overall in a mock draft. But Green is showing up consistently, and he’s doing so from the slot, a position that’s mostly new to him.

The 49ers knew that had an outside corner in Green, but have wanted to see what he could do inside. And he’s showing he’s plenty capable of playing there, and not just in the press-man that made him such a tantalizing college prospect.

Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen raved about him.

“I've been really happy with Renardo,” Sorensen said. “The cool thing is he’s been doing both nickel and corner and it's not a lot of time. It's a certain amount of practices and he hasn't fully been a nickel. So, he's really embraced the challenge of it. That's the best part.

“... But just with him, it's just the mentality and the competitiveness that I love. We knew the movement skill was there and you see it in man-to-man stuff and he gets those too. But he's embraced any challenge. I think he's embraced and he's kind of attacked it and willingly been like, ‘no man, I want more of that.’ And that's really been awesome.”

When he gets to put the pads on, it’s only going to get more entertaining. The physicality, attention to detail and understanding for a rookie is incredible to watch. Even if he ends up the odd man out, that’s not a reflection on his play.

Isaac Yiadom
With Green and Isaac Yiadom, the 49ers suddenly have an extremely talented corner group. The reality is that they have four starting caliber corners for three spots, one of which is semi-rotational. They also have four guys, in Darrell Luter Jr., Samuel Womack III, Ambry Thomas and Chase Lucas, for two spots. I’d bet on Luter and Lucas making the cut, with Womack and Thomas on the wrong side of it.

The way I expect this to play out is for the 49ers to start Charvarius Ward and Yiadom outside, with Deommodore Lenoir at nickel, and see if Green can beat Yiadom out during the year. For someone as high on Green as I am, that’s a reflection of how well Yiadom’s performed.

He has given excellent reps to Pearsall and just about everyone else thus far. He is glued to the hips of receivers in man and tight in zone with an understanding of timing and the ability to close down space when he presents the illusion that it’s there.

“He's kind of self-made, like he works,” Sorensen said Wednesday. “He's very serious. I think when he came to sign, he actually went and got a workout after he signed. I've never seen that, but that's him. I think that's what's kind of shown up with who he is and he's very meticulous.

“The stuff that showed up later in the year with him and how he competed against a lot of really good receivers. I think it's been awesome that we're seeing that now too. He's very technical. He's very strong. I think he's a guy that's also, like we talk about Mooney being strong and a tackler, he's got that in his history as well. He's a tough guy. He's physical. He plays with his hands. He's violent. He communicates. He sees things before they happen and that stuff has shown up.”

None of that seems hyperbolic. He is prepared, tough, and tougher to get away from. Even when he allows catches, receivers are having to earn every yard against him.

At this point, I would be surprised to see Yiadom not starting. Everything is fluid in training camp, but he already looks to be the 49ers’ best offseason signing, and it might not be close.