There is no plausible defense for the San Francisco 49ers’ selection of Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall at pick No. 31 in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Harsh? Yes. An overreaction? Most certainly not.
Pearsall is a “reach” by any objective measure; you need to scour the internet to find any mock drafts that had Pearsall going in the first round, and the lead draft experts for ESPN and NFL Network had Pearsall as Day 2 picks on their big boards.
We could argue all day about how much of a reach the pick really was and rattle off previous “reaches” that have and haven’t panned out, but draft value is not the key issue here.