San Francisco used the No. 33 overall pick on De'Zhaun Stribling this spring, a move that raised some eyebrows given more decorated college receivers were still on the board. One preseason game later, nobody's questioning it. Stribling was the game's leading receiver against the Titans, and the opening drive alone was enough to set fantasy Twitter on fire.
Three targets, 3 receptions, 25 yards, all before the offense even settled in. Hayden Winks summed up the fantasy math in real time: if Stribling catches that ball, he's a consensus Round 5 pick, so grabbing him in Round 8 instead is basically stealing value (2090628079790272738). By the next morning, JJ Zachariason had the receipts to back up the hype.
Targets per route run leaders among rookie wide receivers in the preseason since 2015 (min 15 routes run): 1. De'Zhaun Stribling (59.1%) 2. Tank Dell (45.0%) 3. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (43.8%) 4. Amon-Ra St. Brown (43.5%) (It gets worse after 4, but it's a good tweet, isn't it?)
A 59.1% target rate per route run isn't just good for a rookie, it's the best mark for any rookie wideout in a preseason game dating back to 2015, ahead of names like Tank Dell, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Amon-Ra St. Brown. That's the kind of number that gets circled by anyone building a draft board. It also lines up with what actually happened on the field: Stribling finished as the game's leading receiver with 7 catches for 63 yards, and all 7 of those grabs reportedly came in the first half, making him just the second receiver in the last decade to pull that off inside the opening 20 minutes of a preseason game.
The eye test backed up the box score, too. Winks broke down one specific rep as A-tier, praising Stribling's route and his ability to stay in stride working over the middle, calling it a staple concept in Kyle Shanahan's offense that he nailed on the first try.
Hayden Winks broke down a Stribling route over the middle, praising his stride and hands on the catch.
Titans head coach Robert Saleh, who watched it happen from the other sideline, reportedly summed it up just as simply after the game: that Stribling kid is going to be pretty good. Stribling's college path wasn't a straight line to stardom, either, he started at Washington State, transferred to Oklahoma State, and finally landed at Ole Miss for a senior season that produced 55 catches, 811 yards and 6 touchdowns as the Rebels made a College Football Playoff semifinal run. That winding road is part of why some evaluators viewed him as this draft's top receiver even as he slid to Day 2.
None of this means Stribling is locked into fantasy relevance the second the regular season kicks off, one electric preseason drive against backups is still one drive against backups. But between the target share, the route-running praise, and a 49ers offense that's historically featured its slot and underneath weapons, the industry consensus is shifting fast. FantasyPros is already calling it wheels up on the kid, and Yahoo's Josh & Hayden crew are welcoming converts into what they're calling The Strib Club by the day.
Yahoo Fantasy's Josh & Hayden discuss Stribling's debut and officially welcome new believers into what they're calling The Strib Club.