RP Clips: De'Zhaun Stribling's Rise

**Matt Harmon** (0:00)
This is Reception Perception, The Show. James Koh and Matt Harmon.

**James Koh** (0:06)
De'Zhaun Stribling in San Francisco. It could not be more hot. There's not a rookie who I think has better PR and marketing and buzz behind him right now than De'Zhaun Stribling.
Do the folks a favor here, Matt Harmon. Again, strip away the buzz, strip away the PR. Where are we at with De'Zhaun Stribling?

**Matt Harmon** (0:32)
Yeah, I mean, I'm buying the buzz on Stribling because I was buying the buzz on him as a prospect. And he's one of these ones where again, I don't care about the production, but I mean, like he's from when you watch him in the preseason, he looks exactly like he looked at Ole Miss, where he's this kind of big slot Z receiver move around, blocks well, gives a lot of effort. And I mean, he catches the ball away from his frame.
He's really tough.
I think he's gonna play a big role for this team right away. And I mean, shoot, he's probably their most explosive player right now, depending on what happens with Mike Evans. Mike Evans, man, I'm getting really nervous about Mike Evans. Mike Evans, I'm worried that he's one of those, and we're definitely gonna come to a team that I feel this way about in a moment. One of those like, oh, this is a cute and fun like March Curiosity. Like, oh man, Mike Evans is the ex-receiver in Kyle Jahnian's offense? Hell yeah. And then it's like, oh, it's 2026 Mike Evans. He can't like put three days of practice together in a row because his body's kind of giving out on him. So hope I'm wrong about that because I still think from a stylistic standpoint, he fits so well as the ex-receiver here. But yeah, I mean, at this point, like Stribling might be their most explosive player, depending on where George Kittle is, depending on where Gaffrey is, the whole deal. But yeah, I think Stribling is going to get a lot of opportunity. And I do think he's a good player. Like, how good is he going to be? Like, that's the frustrating part now about the Stribling thing, is that the hype cycle has gotten so crazy that if he comes out and has, like, 700 yards and five touchdowns, that would probably be a disappointment. But that would be a great rookie season for somebody like him.

**James Koh** (2:14)
Sure. No question. I mean, you talk about most explosive player in San Francisco. He might just be their only healthy player. Good Lord. I mean, George Kittle, CMC., Mike Evans. The list goes on and on. I don't know.
I think it might be... It feels like this is setting up to be almost like a disaster season for San Francisco, where a lot of things have to get reset, where, again, they might... I don't think they're going to analyze Kyle Shanahan, but I think Shanahan's voice in the front office may be reconfigured. I think the front office itself might be under pressure if this season goes the way that I think it might go, depending on all the injuries here. So, I don't know. I think this is going to be a really interesting year for San Francisco.
It feels very much like they are teetering right now. Like, all the missed draft picks are starting to come around, and, dude, like, taxes got to be paid at some point. So, I don't know. I'll be interested to see what happens with San Francisco this year and De'Zhaun Stribling. Tell you what, man, like, that's going to be a really big talking point in this next coming off season here as well.