The 49ers have spent training camp getting a closer look at rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, and the first thing that keeps coming up from the defensive side isn’t blazing speed. It’s the way he snatches the football.
Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir didn’t bury the lede when he described what stands out most about the second-round rookie.
"I ain't gonna lie - No. 1 is his hands," cornerback Deommodore Lenoir told The Athletic 's Matt Barrows. "He's got that catch radius where he's gonna catch it away from his body. He's got strong fingertips."
Nickelback Upton Stout had a similar read on Stribling, pointing to a receiver who looks comfortable both at the catch point and once he gets moving.
"I like the way he uses his hands and his speed. He's gonna be a good addition for us."
That praise has been building for a while now. Stribling’s hands measure 10 inches, the same size as defensive tackle Alfred Collins', who is 6-foot-6 and 332 pounds.
And even before camp got rolling, plenty of people around the 49ers were talking about the rookie. Brock Purdy, Mac Jones, Kyle Juszczyk and Mike Evans have all already voiced approval of different parts of his game.
The buzz is also tied to how Stribling has handled tougher situations. Wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson said he hasn’t seen him put one on the ground in contested-catch work this camp.
"It's not just that he's catching it. He's strong.
He's attacking it. He's stepping back to the ball," Hankerson said.
That kind of play has started to register with the defense, too. Stout said it plainly: "He's going to be a dog."
Stribling, who was viewed by many as a reach at No. 33 in the 2026 NFL Draft, has been one of the most discussed players in camp. Hankerson said he’s mostly lined up at the F and X spots so far, which could put him in position to fill the kind of role Jauan Jennings left behind when he signed with the Vikings this offseason. It also gives the 49ers another option behind Evans at X.
There has been a small setback. Stribling missed three days of camp because of hamstring tightness, though he is otherwise on track. With Ricky Pearsall out for the season because of a PCL injury, the Z spot now appears likely to be handled by Deebo Samuel and others.
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