49ers’ De’Zhaun Stribling shares A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf reason to believe

49ers’ De’Zhaun Stribling shares A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf reason to believe originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The San Francisco 49ers were in a prime position in the 2026 NFL Draft. They had traded down out of the first round and received the No. 33 overall pick. That's also known as the first pick of the second round.

And because the second round isn't until the night after the first round, there's a big gap for teams to call and try and trade into that spot. Anyone who wants to ensure they get their top player available can do so by moving up to 33.

The 49ers surely got calls all day long, but they didn't make any deals.

Instead, San Francisco drafted De'Zhaun Stribling, a wide receiver out of Ole Miss.

And even without digging too deep into Stribling, a couple things are apparent.

For one, he's physically impressive, fast and strong and athletic.

Beyond that, those are traits he shares with two recent Ole Miss wide receivers: DK Metcalf and A.J. Brown.

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Neither of those guys was a first-round pick, either, but both entered the NFL with impressive physical characteristics, and they've clearly proved that they belong in the league.

This isn't to say that Stribling will become Metcalf or Brown, but the path from Ole Miss WR to the NFL has been trod in the recent path.

It's also a reminder that Metcalf and Brown were once college teammates. Clearly, those Ole Miss teams weren't quite set up to maximize the two star WRs they had at once, but the NFL was ready for them in their own spots.