De'Zhaun Stribling Steals the Show in San Francisco's Preseason Opener
The 49ers' second-round rookie caught 7 of 8 targets for 63 yards in one half — and there are 196 vacated targets up for grabs in this offense.
Cheap late-round dart with a real path to Purdy targets.
- Stribling: 7 of 8 targets, 63 yards in one half
- 196 targets vacated by Jennings, Bourne, Pearsall
- Cam Ward: 5 of 12, 57 yards over 3 drives
- Ward posted 201 PPR pts across 17 games in 2025
- Mike Evans already dealt with a quad injury this summer
San Francisco spent most of training camp fielding injury questions, but the preseason opener against Tennessee handed the 49ers a far happier storyline. Second-round rookie De'Zhaun Stribling reeled in seven of his eight targets for 63 yards — all in the first half — flashing the kind of contested-catch chops that turn camp buzz into a real depth-chart argument.
The math behind the hype is the part fantasy managers should care about. This offense has 196 targets to redistribute from 2025, with Jauan Jennings gone to Minnesota, Kendrick Bourne signed in Arizona, and Ricky Pearsall parked on season-ending IR. That's a mountain of volume, and the Ole Miss product just made a loud case for a slice of it.
The bodies in front of him aren't exactly ironclad, either. Mike Evans already tweaked a quad this summer, and Deebo Samuel — our #72 overall, #24 WR — is coming off a 188 PPR-point 2025 (72 catches, 727 yards, 5 TD) but trending the wrong way, down 4.6 fantasy points per game over his last five contests of the season. If either misses time, Stribling could become Brock Purdy's most-trusted target sooner than his draft slot suggests.
The Cam Ward Side of the Ledger
On the other sideline, the news was gloomier. Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick from 2025, went just 5 of 12 for 57 yards across three possessions, with accuracy problems that will keep Nashville tense. That's a rough note for a quarterback who's supposed to be taking a Year 2 leap under new head coach Robert Saleh and OC Brian Daboll.
Context matters, though. Ward is learning an entirely new system after Tennessee cleaned house, and he finished 2025 strong enough to bank 201 PPR points across 17 games (3,169 pass yards, 15 TD, 7 INT), with his form actually ticking up 2.7 fantasy points per game over his final five outings. One ugly August series isn't the panic button — it's the tax on installing a new offense.
Fantasy verdict: grab Stribling. He's a free or near-free late-round flier with a legitimate runway to real target share in a high-powered offense, and the WR room ahead of him carries genuine injury risk. Ward stays a wait-and-see QB2 for now — his rest-of-summer accuracy is the tell, not this one box score. Keep Deebo as a hold, but don't ignore that late-season slide when you're setting your board.
