De'Zhaun Stribling’s preseason surge kept rolling Thursday night, and this one may have said even more about where he stands with the 49ers.
Against the Chargers, the rookie wideout caught four passes for 46 yards in the first half of San Francisco’s preseason win. The numbers didn’t top his Week 1 line, but the way he got there carried more weight. With a good chunk of the 49ers’ starters on the field, including Brock Purdy, Stribling kept showing up when the offense needed a target.
Purdy threw only six passes on the night and completed four. Three of those completions went to Stribling.
After looking Deebo Samuel’s way on his first two throws, Purdy turned right back and fired the next three in Stribling’s direction. The rookie came down with all three, picking up gains of 11 yards and twice for seven.
That kind of usage matters because it gave San Francisco its first real look at how Stribling fits with his starting quarterback in game action. Practice work can only tell you so much. Thursday offered something clearer: when the pocket tightened and Purdy needed a reliable option, he found Stribling.
The target share backed that up. Purdy sent half of his throws Stribling’s way, a strong sign for a player still trying to turn preseason buzz into something more permanent.
Mike Evans and George Kittle were out, which left Deebo Samuel as the main name competing for looks. Even so, Stribling’s perfect catch rate stood out and helped strengthen the trust factor between quarterback and receiver.
There’s still one more preseason game left for that connection to keep growing. Kittle already has the kind of relationship with Purdy that doesn’t need extra reps, but Mike Evans has yet to share the field with the franchise quarterback in a real game. That makes his return worth watching, especially with Stribling developing so quickly.
After another productive night with much of the starting group, Stribling may have answered a few questions the organization still had. Purdy appears to trust him, and that could become a bigger story as the relationship develops. If this level of reliability holds, Stribling looks like he could end up being more valuable than his second-round status first suggested.
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But the age on that group also changes the conversation in a hurry. With so many of San Franciscos best players already on the other side of 30, the urgency is obvious, because championship windows do not stay open forever and the 49ers know the margin for error is shrinking. The talent is still there, but the pressure to turn it into a title feels more immediate now than it did even a year ago. [Read more 🡒]