Steve Smith Sr. has already put a rookie into the middle of the 49ers' future plans at receiver. The former NFL star said De'Zhaun Stribling has the highest ceiling in the room and suggested the rookie could become the kind of wideout San Francisco has been looking for once Kyle Shanahan gets him working in the offense.
That praise is drawing attention now because Stribling has already shown something in game action. In his preseason debut against the Titans, he caught seven of eight targets for 63 yards and broke off a 32-yard gain on third down, a line that helps explain why the rookie is getting noticed so quickly after arriving in Santa Clara as the No. 33 overall pick in this year's draft.
Smith did not stop at general praise. He said people would not be shocked by what kind of receiver Stribling becomes when Shanahan gets his hands on him, and he called him the team's soon-to-be best route runner over the next couple of years. He also tied the projection to Brandon Aiyuk, saying Stribling is what the 49ers were hoping Aiyuk could be, only with a little more mental bandwidth.
The comparison carries extra weight because Aiyuk was once a first-round pick who delivered consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2022 and 2023 before the story changed. After a contract holdout following the 2023 season, he suffered a mid-season ACL tear in 2024, then had a rift with the team in 2025 that later spilled into a social media foodfight in 2026. Smith went further and said Aiyuk likely will never play for the 49ers again, which leaves the club searching for another answer even as it tries to build around its current group.
Stribling's path is one reason some teams were willing to bet on him. He spent 2021-22 at Washington State, 2023-24 at Oklahoma State and 2025 at Ole Miss, a stretch that gave him three schools in three years and a chance to keep expanding his game. At Ole Miss, he caught 55 passes for 811 yards and six touchdowns. At least one team, including the Los Angeles Rams, had him rated as one of the top receivers in the class, which helps explain why Smith views him as more than just another rookie trying to find a role.
The harder question is how much room there will be for that role. The 49ers' receiver room is already crowded with veterans like Mike Evans, Christian Kirk and Deebo Samuel, and that depth could limit Stribling's snaps as a rookie even if the internal view of his ceiling is real. For now, the signs point in the same direction: the 49ers may have found a receiver they believe can grow into much more, but the season will show whether that belief turns into playing time.
