De’Zhaun Stribling, a rookie receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, made a strong first impression in his exhibition debut. Stribling caught seven passes for 63 yards in less than one half on Thursday night against Tennessee, outplaying the top receiver taken in this year’s draft in No. 4 overall pick Carnell Tate.

Stribling’s Performance

Stribling is well aware of the five receivers drafted ahead of him, but is more focused on his own play so far this summer as he hopes to play a big role for the 49ers as a rookie. He caught a pass on his first snap in an exhibition game with a 6-yarder from Kurtis Rourke.

Stribling spent his first two seasons in college at Washington State and the next two at Oklahoma State before joining Ole Miss last season. He had 55 catches for 811 yards and six TDs to help the Rebels reach the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

The Niners thought highly enough of him to draft him 33rd overall. Stribling has shown a good ability in practice to create separation with his hands to go along with his impressive speed. Backup quarterback Mac Jones said, ‘I call him the ‘Flyin’ Hawaiian’ because he’s so fast.’

Team’s Expectations

The Niners are hoping to get an immediate contribution from Stribling, especially after losing projected starter Ricky Pearsall to season-ending knee surgery early in training camp. Coach Kyle Shanahan said, ‘He’s handling it well. It was tough when he got hurt. He missed that week. Now he’s been back for a week. Hopefully he can string together two more of these weeks, because he’s going about it the right way and as long as he gets those reps and continues to do what he’s been doing, he should be ready for the season.’

Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.