The San Francisco 49ers selected Ole Miss WR De’Zhaun Stribling with the 33rd pick in Round 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft. Stribling started his college career at Washington State and produced right away. He ranked third on the team with 470 yards as a true freshman before jumping to a team-high 602 the next year. Stribling failed to climb much from there, though. He transferred to Oklahoma State in 2023 but missed most of that season with a broken wrist. In 2024, he led the team with 882 receiving yards but ranked second in catches (52) and TDs (6). Stribling made another move to Ole Miss this past season and posted a 55-811-6 line. He led the Rebels in TDs but ranked second in catches and receiving yards. Among the 49 WRs invited to the Combine, Stribling ranked 24th in dominator rating (24.6%) and 30th in yards per route (2.15). The 6’2, 207-pounder boosted his stock with a 4.36-second 40 time and 9.57 Relative Athletic Score at the Combine. But he arrives in the NFL with a middling production profile and an underdeveloped route tree. Per The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, hitches and gos accounted for 57% of his routes last year.
Draft Sharks Rookie Guide: “Stribling displayed excellent run-after-catch ability in a shorter-range role. Stribling also flashed reliable hands with a 1.8% drop rate. The full profile points to a draftable reserve WR with some development potential.”
The move comes as a bit of a surprise, but Stribling has an intriguing blend of size and speed. He has strong hands and is one of the top yards-after-catch WRs in the 2026 NFL Draft class.
He'll slot in as the replacement for Jauan Jennings, joining Mike Evans and Ricky Pearsall in a San Francisco offense that got hit hard by injuries last season. The 49ers still ranked fifth with 244.5 passing yards per game.
Stribling will need to compete with Pearsall to achieve meaningful fantasy value in 2026, but TE George Kittle's Achilles' recovery adds opportunity upside. Pearsall's injury history helps Stribling's outlook as well.
View Stribling as an upside bench stash in redraft leagues.
Stribling projects best as a perimeter option opposite Evans, kicking Pearsall inside.
He was drafted significantly higher than projected, as the sixth WR overall.
That obviously helps Stribling's chances of getting on the field for one of the league's most efficient offenses. Going that early to such a respected offense will probably raise his draft price, however.
Beware of overpaying in your rookie drafts.
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