Cowherd believes 49ers got ‘little bit of a break’ with 2024 schedule
As some look at the 49ers’ rest differential for the 2024 NFL season and believe the team got the short end of the stick, Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports 1 claims San Francisco lucked out with its schedule.
Cowherd said Thursday on “The Herd” that, despite the 49ers facing four teams coming off a bye, he considers them among three teams that got “a little bit of a break” when the 2024 schedule was released thanks to their early slate of opponents.
“People are lamenting what the Niners got. ‘Oh, they face all these teams off a bye,’ ” Cowherd said. “Not every coach is great off a bye, the offensive coaches aren’t. So, the Niners are a veteran team with a veteran head coach. This is a really, really smart team that can play on short rest. They’re not rebuilding anything.
“They’ve got [Talanoa] Hufanga back at safety. They’ve got a couple of young receivers they’ll work in, but they kept Deebo [Samuel], [George] Kittle, Trent Williams, [Brock] Purdy, [Christian McCaffrey], Brandon Aiyuk. They brought the band back together and look what they face until October 10 — new, new, new, new, new, new.”
Cowherd pointed out that the 49ers play the New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots to start the season, all of whom are rolling out new pieces to their games in some respect — whether it be new quarterbacks, new offensive lines or, as Cowherd put it with New England, “new everything.”
Additionally, Cowherd believes adjusting to life without Aaron Donald could be tough for the Los Angeles Rams when they face San Francisco early on, while the Seattle Seahawks will be playing under new coach Mike Macdonald.
“New, new, new, new, new, with a veteran, high-IQ offense, adaptable, against kids, young staffs, young O-lines, new O-lines, new defenses,” Cowherd continued. “Very, very good start for the Niners, who don’t need help because they’re stacked.”
In addition to the 49ers, Cowherd also listed the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers as the two other NFL teams he believes got off easy when it comes to scheduling.
San Francisco, favorable Super Bowl odds aside, enters the 2024 NFL season at a significant rest disadvantage compared to its opponents. The 49ers’ minus-22 net rest differential for the 2024 campaign ranks third-worst in the NFL since 2002 (h/t ESPN) and marks two consecutive seasons where San Francisco got stuck with the worst rest differential in the league.
But in Cowherd’s eyes, the 49ers have plenty to be thankful for with their scheduling and could go into their Week 9 bye riding high thanks to their veteran experience — and their opponents’ inexperience.
Rookie 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall’s trajectory to the NFL can be traced back through decades of hard work and a heaping helping of Skittles.
When Pearsall was just 3 years old, his father Ricky Sr. developed a motivational tool by rewarding him with a Skittle whenever he caught a football with his hands, and removing one from a pile whenever he dropped a ball or caught it against his chest (h/t The San Francisco Chronicle).
Ricky Sr., who starred as a wide receiver at Northern Arizona University, instilled an appreciation for football in his son at an early age, developing a dedication to the game that led Pearsall to be a first-round selection the 2024 NFL Draft.
Pearsall’s football talent came honestly, as an NFL scout highlighted to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler that Ricky Sr. was an exceptional receiver in his own right during his days at Northern Arizona.
“The kid has heart,” the scout told Brugler. “His daddy was a tough as s–t, sticky-handed receiver, and the apple didn’t fall far.”
In an exclusive interview with The San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch, Pearsall confirmed that he doesn’t expect Ricky Sr.’s guidance to regress just because he made to the NFL.
“Oh, 1,000 percent,” Pearsall told Branch. “He’s on me to this day about stuff that I do. It’s not going to stop, I promise you. Year 10 [in the NFL], he’s probably going to be texting me similar stuff. Hopefully I fix a few things by then.”
While he has come a long way from catching passes for Skittles, Pearsall’s love of the game remains on full display as he embarks on a new chapter with a 49ers team that will rely on him heavily to assist the continued pursuit of the sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy that San Francisco has so narrowly missed out on over the last decade.
