There has been no shortage of comments on the 49ers' selection of Ricky Pearsall at 31 last Thursday night. Rather than speculate on Pearsall myself, I went straight to the man that coached him at Arizona State, Herm Edwards.
"He's kind of a Swiss army knife," Edwards said, "You can move him around. I know for what Coach Shanahan likes to do with his receivers, they don't all play in one spot. He's that kind of guy, he's a utility guy. You can move him in the slot, you can move him outside."
This scouting report would be nothing new to the 49ers. John Lynch is very close with Edwards - they're both godparents to the other's children - and Herm has consulted on his former players multiple times in recent drafts.
So what did he tell Lynch about Pearsall this year?
"I told John before the draft I said, 'Look, John, the thing about this guy - he loves football. He likes practicing football, and you've got to slow him down. You've got to protect him from himself. He's one of those guys - he's 100 miles an hour every time he walks on the field. You've got to slow him down at times because he wears himself down.'"
That kind of work ethic is great, because Edwards says there are things that Pearsall is going to have to improve on now that he's in the NFL. Press coverage, for one, and diagnosing complex NFL coverages, for another.
Fortunately, Herm says Pearsall won't hesitate to start doing everything he can to improve in those areas, including working out in the offseason with Brock Purdy.
"If he had to drive from Arizona [to San Francisco] every day, he would do it. He has great work ethic, he really does. He wants to work at it, he wants to be the best. This was his dream, to be in the National Football League. There's no doubt about that."
Check out the whole interview below: