DETROIT, Mich. - Florida football wide receiver
Ricky Pearsall was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round with the 31st overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday night.
The selection continues the Gators streak being one of three schools and only SEC school to have a player drafted in the common era draft, which began in 1967.
Overall, Pearsall is the 45th UF wide receiver to be taken, ranking third most in the NCAA and leading the Southeastern Conference. Since 2000, Florida has had 21 receivers drafted and six since 2020. He is the eighth Gator receiver to be drafted in the first round and last since Kadarius Toney (2021, New York Giants, 20th overall).
A native of Chandler, Ariz. Pearsall joined the Orange and Blue ahead of the 2022 season after three seasons (2019-21) at Arizona State. He played in 55 career games with 33 starts and never missed a game. Pearsall ended his career with 159 catches for 2,420 receiving yards, 14 touchdown catches with marks of 15.2 yards per catch, 2.9 receptions per game and 44.0 yards per game. He was also productive in the rushing game with 21 carries for 253 yards and five touchdowns.
He returned to the Gators for his final collegiate season and made one of the most memorable catches in college football with a one-handed snag in The Swamp. He also helped lead a fourth-quarter comeback on the road for a 41-39 victory at South Carolina. Pearsall caught the game-winning touchdown, a 21-yard pass, but set up the opportunity with a crucial 4th down catch backed up on their own 25-yard line. He ended with career-highs in catches (10) and receiving yards (166) in Columbia.
Also last year, he led the team in receptions (65), receiving yards (965) and receiving yards per game (80.4). Forty-one (63.1%) of his catches were for first-downs and 35 (53.8%) going for double-digits. Out of his 159 career receptions, 102 (69.3%) moved the chains with 90 (59.5%) marking 10-plus yards or more.
Pearsall earned his degree in Education Sciences this past fall from the University of Florida and was a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. He also was recently selected to the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society.
He also participated in both the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine. At the latter, he made his presence known with marks of 42 inches in the vertical jump and a 10 '9 in the broad jump as the vertical performance put him in the 97th percentile of all athletes who participated in the event, while his broad jump was in the 89th percentile. He then turned in a 4.41 in the 40-yard dash, ranking 10th best among receivers at the combine. Pearsall finished with a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 9.90 out of 10.0, ranking 32 out of 3121 WR from 1987 to 2024.
Draft Notes (at the time Pearsall was selected)
- Fifth-straight year a Gator has been drafted in the first round
- Anthony Richardson (2023), Kaiir Elam (2022), Kyle Pitts & Kadarius Toney (2021) & CJ Henderson (2020)
- Longest streak since Gators had six consecutive years from 2015-18
- 55th Gator to be drafted in the first round since 1967
- 2nd most in the SEC
- 5th most in the NCAA
- 45th Florida WR drafted since 1967
- Last since Justin Shorter (2022)
- 3rd most in the NCAA
- Ohio State (47) and USC (46)
- Leads the SEC (Tennessee next closest with 43)
- 283 UF player to be drafted since 1967
- Leads the SEC (Alabama 281)
- 27th Gator to be drafted in the first round since 2000
- 18th Gator to be drafted in the first round since 2010
- 5th Gator to be draft in the first round since 2020
- 21th Gator WR drafted since 2000
- 6th UF WR drafted since 2020
- 8th UF WR drafted in the second round
- First since Van Jefferson (2020)
- 21st UF WR drafted in the first three rounds
- First since Kadarius Toney (2021)
- Highest Gator WR drafted since 2021
- Kadarius Toney (Round 1, 20th Overall)
