A three-star prospect from Corona Del Sol High School in Chandler, Arizona, Ricky Pearsall committed to Arizona State over offers from Air Force,
Hawaii, and New Mexico State due to then-head coach Herm Edwards’ interest in him. Pearsall caught 61 passes for 794 yards and five touchdowns in three seasons with the Sun Devils before transferring to Florida after things went south for Edwards and the program. 2023 was Pearsall’s best season overall in five of them — he caught 65 balls on 87 targets for 963 yards and four touchdowns, with 11 catches on 20 targets of 20 or more air yards for 342 yards and all four of his touchdowns.
Pearsall isn’t a do-it-all receiver, but the things he does, he does very well, and he should be a plus vertical threat from the slot in the NFL.
PLUSES
— Tested off the charts in most combine drills that presage speed and explosiveness, and that shows up on tape. Pearsall works off the snap with smooth, gliding speed to get to his route bend.
— Very good understanding of the route tree, and how to use the nuances of routes to upend coverage.
— If your NFL team employs a lot of motion, you’ll love Pearsall as a guy who can get up to full speed when moving pre-snap and get into his concepts quickly.
— 6′ 1″, 189-pound frame, and he can win outside. Not an X-iso guy, but he’ll band it inside from tight splits and he can run the Cover- 3 beater up the seam all day long.
— Has some juice as a contested-catch receiver, both by using speed to separate at the ball point, and with some truly insane timed jumps.
— Clearly not afraid of contact in the open field; his preposterous catch against Charlotte (shown below) proves that. He had another catch against LSU into two defenders that was just about as ridiculous.
MINUSES
— The blocking tape is… well, really bad. Far too much “bad matador” reps. Seems more of a technique issue than a lack of willingness to get physical.
— Pearsall can gain yards after the catch and force missed tackles, but it’s far more through elusiveness than any kind of physical dominance.
— Needs free space to operate. He’ll require his NFL coaches to scheme him into that.
— Red zone efficiency will be affected until he’s more consistent in getting push against tacklers. You don’t expect him to be Deebo Samuel or anything, but he gets tackled a bit more easily than you might prefer.
The NFL is about matchups as much as it is about schemes, and Pearsall projects well as a move and motion target with great route awareness, quickness everywhere on the field, and fearless acrobatic catches. If Pearsall can bring a slightly more physical profile to his after-contact opportunities and learn to block to any degree, his coaches are not going to want to take him off the field.
Okay, now WATCH THIS FREAKING CATCH.
Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida
PLUSES
— Tested off the charts in most combine drills that presage speed and explosiveness, and that shows up on tape. Pearsall works off the snap with smooth, gliding speed to get to his route bend.
— Very good understanding of the route tree,… pic.twitter.com/Ld4MIayUxC
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 15, 2024
