49ers Rookie Expectations: Wide Receiver De'Zhaun Stribling

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49ers Rookie Expectations: Wide Receiver De'Zhaun Stribling

Originally posted on San Francisco 49ers on SI
By Parker Hurley | Last updated May 4, 2026 11:00 AM ET

While you cannot base a draft class on their rookie season, it is going to be interesting to see what the San Francisco 49ers' rookies can do to help this year, given where their roster is. What are realistic expectations for De’Zhaun Stribling?

What are realistic expectations for De'Zhaun Stribling with San Francisco 49ers

Since 2013, there have been 34 receivers drafted between picks 33 and 50. These are the wide outs who were not good enough to make it into Round 1, but simply could not fall into the back half of Round 2. This is where Stribling resides.

On average, these 34 wide receivers had 41 catches for 532 yards and four touchdowns. So, this could be a fair baseline to see how well Stribling is used compared to the other players on this list. What is interesting to note is that while rookie season success is not everything for these players, having some level of production goes a long way in determining their future success.

Of the 34 receivers, 15 of them failed to hit 500 yards. The players who went on to have the best careers are Curtis Samuel, Zay Jones, Tyquan Thornton, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Paul Richardson. That is five out of 15, and most of them were just depth receivers, with none of these names being significant contributors. Other names include Devin Funchess, Dante Pettis, Marquise Lee, Justin Hunter, and KJ Hamler.

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Meanwhile, of the 19 players to hit 500 yards or more, there are notable names such as Michael Thomas, Ladd McConkey, Tee Higgins, Deebo Samuel, Jayden Reed, Courtland Sutton, Luther Burden, Christian Watson, Christian Kirk, Robert Woods, and Michael Pittman.

Of course, Chase Claypool, Jordan Matthews, Laviska Shenault, Elijah Moore, and Keon Coleman also had more than 500 yards, but the list of receivers that produced as rookies not only has a higher hit rate, but the hits are much more significant as well.

It is an arbitrary line, but it is clear that the receivers who do not produce early end up having issues being significant producers at all. Stribling will be an interesting test case because he is expected to be a depth behind Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian Kirk. However, all three have injury questions, and in the case of Kirk, Stribling might just bring more juice out of the gate.

To get 500 yards, he just needs to stay healthy and average about 30 yards per game. Will the 49ers get him there?

This article first appeared on San Francisco 49ers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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