The San Francisco 49ers opened the preseason with a 19-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 13 at Levi’s Stadium. Despite the defeat in the opener, the Niners did have some bright spots, with rookie wideout De’Zhaun Stribling being one of them.
In the loss to the Titans, Stribling recorded seven receptions on eight targets for 63 receiving yards, with his longest reception being for 32 yards. While it looks like the rookie wants to be a reliable target for Brock Purdy this season, that’s not the only aspect of Stribling that’s impressing veterans on the team.
On Aug. 16, George Kittle spoke to the media and highlighted one aspect of Stribling that has really impressed him throughout training camp and the preseason.
“I love what Stribling’s doing right now,” Kittle told reporters. “My favorite thing about Strib is actually just his mindset every single day. Like, there’s no ego at all… He’s not sensitive whatsoever. He’s got the right mindset for everything. He shows up every day and I think he just works really, really hard.
“And that’s all I’ve heard about him, too. I’m not in every single meeting with him, but I’ve only heard great things about him. I think he has a chance to be a very, very good football player for us this year.”
De’Zhaun Stribling Willing to Accept Coaching to Fix Flaws
Moreover, Kittle gave a specific example of how Stribling isn’t showing any ego and is embracing Kyle Shanahan’s coaching.
“One thing I love that Kyle does, he goes, ‘Hey,’ in front of the whole team,” Kittle added. “He’s very good at, like, he will build you up and he’ll also point out your flaws.
“So, ‘Hey, Strib, you had, statistically, you had a great game, you made great plays. But here’s a couple of plays that we need you to be great at and you weren’t. And that led to bad run plays. Or you didn’t, like, hey, this route is an inside foot up, four-step out route. And you went outside foot up, and you took five steps. So the timing of the play is messed up.’
So he’s like, ‘These little things you got to focus on.’ And De’Zhaun Stribling didn’t take offense to that. He looks at it as, like, ‘All right, well, hey, coach is giving me an opportunity to get better.’ And that’s the mindset you have to have, and you’ve got to be allowed to get coached.”
49ers Insider Gives De’Zhaun Stribling a Comparison
After Stribling’s performance against the Titans, Grant Cohn of 49ers on SI noted that the rookie wideout reminds the reporter of another former Niners receiver in Michael Crabtree.
“I thought [Stribling] was excellent,” Cohn said in an Aug. 13 video on his X account. “He was the star of the first half. He doesn’t create a ton of separation, but he is big, he’s fast, he’s a downfield threat. This team doesn’t have a downfield threat, and he makes contested catches; big hands.
“He’s like Michael Crabtree with speed, and he’s gonna be in the slot a lot and I really hope the Niners don’t take him off the field so they can play Kyle freaking Juszczyk this year. This needs to be the year where they finally make the three-wide receiver formation their base personnel.”
Stribling will look to continue this good form into the Niners’ second preseason game when they face the Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 20 at SoFi Stadium.
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