Commitment Analysis: Ricky Pearsall Jr, WR

On Monday, Arizona State earned its fifth verbal commitment of the 2019 class in Tempe, Arizona WR Ricky Pearsall Jr. Let's take a deeper look at exactly what Arizona State is getting.

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Junior Year Stats (Regular Season):

74 Catches, 1,153 Rec Yards, 13 TD

Ricky Pearsall Sr hauled in 124 catches for 1,802 yards in his career at Northern Arizona, and now his son is set to push the bar even higher by committing to Arizona State out of Tempe Corona del Sol High School.

Pearsall Jr. plays in a pass-heavy offense at Corona, and while he benefitted from some short bubble and screen passes, the real damage he did as a junior came after the catch. As someone who has watched Pearsall Jr develop, I can confidently say that the expectations for his senior campaign are through the roof. He went from being a good player, to one of the most physically mature and explosive wide receiver prospects in the state during the offseason. His vertical leap and 40-yard dash time, far and away above his statistics, are what got him the Arizona State offer to go along with previous offers from New Mexico State and Hawaii.

-Yards after the catch are his specialty. He's not especially shifty or fancy once he gets the ball- he just heads toward paydirt.

-Pearsall Jr. absolutely abuses defensive backs that give him cushion. He does a decent job of breaking in and out of his routes, and tips off very little with his hips when changing directions while running his routes.

-Great route running at 1:39, shows solid awareness once he sees the outside DB turned away from the QB and anticipating an out route, good awareness of where he's at on the field.

- I like the way he tracks the ball in the air and times his leaps. Defensive backs can never really get a read on when the ball is coming from watching Pearsall Jr. while the pass is in the air.

-Underrated ability to attain and maintain possession of the ball through contact.

-Eats inexperienced DBs alive. Exposes poor technique or schemes. Not flashy. Production, physique and no-nonsense, high-IQ approach reminds me of ASU WR Kerry Taylor. YAC ability resembles a bigger, stronger, faster Aaron Pflugrad.

-I watched film from his game against Boulder Creek, and he can be harassed at/near the line of scrimmage to the point of causing his production to suffer. Getting bigger, stronger, faster and more physical should help him in this area.

Arizona State has an interesting dilemma at WR coming up. It's all but guaranteed that this is N'Keal Harry's final season, and by Pearsall Jr.'s second year on campus, all the wideouts that are currently on the roster will be gone outside of Geordon Porter, Frank Darby and Curtis Hodges. Coming in as the first WR recruit that this offensive staff was fully responsible for recruiting could afford him every opportunity to prove himself worthy of early playing time. Shoot, he might not have any other choice but to be ready.