The San Francisco 49ers used their second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on a wide receiver who had flashed plenty of upside throughout his collegiate career. For De'Zhaun Stribling, that upside has unsurprisingly translated to the NFL level, and ahead of his rookie season, the hype continues to build around the 6-foot-2 North Carolina native.
One of the many rave reviews given to Stribling through training camp and the preseason came from the one person any wide receiver would like to hear it from, his quarterback, Brock Purdy.
During an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area's 49ers Talk, Purdy gushed about Stripling and made one thing very clear: The rookie wideout is going to be a "big part" of the team's offense in 2026.
"He's done an amazing
job with coming in and obviously learning the playbook and just keeping his head down and working," Purdy said of Stribling. "...He's a guy that doesn't come in and just talk, talk, talk, but he's gonna show you when he gets out to practice by the way that he works, the way that he's supposed to be where he's supposed to be every time."
"If he does mess up, you could tell he's gonna get it corrected the next time...Guys get there eventually, but he's done it from the jump, which is really rare and really cool to see, and he's gonna be a big part of our offense this year, so I'm excited to see him play."
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Stribling enters a situation with the 49ers where he could be thrust into a large role out of the gate, given the injuries to Christian Kirk and Ricky Pearsall.
From a 49ers standpoint, Stribling having a breakout rookie campaign would be pivotal for the offense, while opening up the field for the running game and fellow pass-catchers Mike Evans, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel. That same sentiment stands true from a fantasy football perspective, especially given that Stripling has an ADP (average draft position) that sets him up to become one of the potential steals of fantasy draft season.
Stribling's current ADP in snake drafts is 138.9 on ESPN, meaning that the 49ers rookie is coming off the board in the very late rounds of fantasy drafts, creating a spot with ultimate "sleeper" upside potential.
In five collegiate seasons, Stribling totaled 216 receptions for 2,964 yards and 23 touchdowns. He began his college career with Washington State for two seasons before transferring to Oklahoma State for two years. His fifth and final season was played at Ole Miss, and he wrapped up his final two years at the collegiate level with over 800 receiving yards each year and 12 combined touchdowns.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Brock Purdy's high De'Zhaun Stribling praise proves he's a legit fantasy football sleeper
