Is De’Zhaun Stribling the Next Brandon Aiyuk? 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report & SPS Grade

Updated May 17, 2026

Brandon Aiyuk was the 25th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Arizona State, taken by San Francisco. Aiyuk eventually grew into Kyle Shanahan’s most reliable boundary target alongside Deebo Samuel. The 49ers just selected De’Zhaun Stribling with the No. 33 overall pick in Round 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound receiver finished his five-year college career with 216 receptions, 2,964 yards, and 23 touchdowns across stops at Washington State, Oklahoma State, and Ole Miss. Now that the Round 2 capital is on the table and the landing spot is set, the Aiyuk comp is a similar and measurable trajectory.

Stribling spent his final college season at Ole Miss after transferring from Oklahoma State, posting 55 catches for 811 yards and six touchdowns as the Rebels’ top target. Albert Breer reported the 49ers fielded calls for the No. 33 pick before Lynch and Shanahan stayed put, with Stribling rising on the team’s board late in the pre-draft process.

There are plenty of positives to be seen in Stribling’s film. But will Stribling’s analytics share the same sentiment as those film analysts? Brandon Aiyuk is 11th all time on the WR Star-Predictor Score (SPS) prospects list. Will Stribling score high enough to make the top 10 all-time WR SPS list?

The Film Breakdown: Pros & Cons

We all should be looking at both film and analytics as we know they go hand-in-hand. The following consensus film critiques are derived from looks into Stribling’s game film. These highlight the positive and negative traits San Francisco just bought into with the Round 2 pick:

The Pros (The “Elite” Upside)

• Long-Strider Who Eats Up Cushion: Stribling is a long-strider who eats up cushion quickly versus off-man coverage or bail techniques. (Bleacher Report)
• Coaches Liked Him More Than the Public Knew: Klay Kubiak, the 49ers’ offensive coordinator, called Stribling a big, fast, powerful football player who can help the offense in many ways with the ball in his hand and praised him as a complete football player who makes a team better. (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Size, Strength, and Ball Skills at the Catch Point: He brings a good combination of size, strength, and hand-eye coordination to high-point and secure catches. Also with strong ball-tracking, field awareness, and ball skills to convert for explosive downfield plays. (Bleacher Report)

The Cons (The Refinement Needs)

• Short-Area Quickness in the Contact Window: Bleacher Report flags short-area quickness in the contact window versus press alignment, noting Stribling needs to expand his release package for consistent execution when pressed. NFL corners will be able to mirror that the moment they see it on tape. (Bleacher Report)
• Great straight-line speed, otherwise not: Due to not having great acceleration or change of direction speed, he can be seen more as a deep threat than a tunnel screen kind of receiver. (Clarion Ledger)
• Build-Up Speed and Average Hip Sinkage: The same report notes Stribling possesses build-up speed rather than instantaneous speed, which takes him a little longer to get into his routes, and his hip sinkage is average at best, limiting space creation on breaks. (Bleacher Report)

For dynasty managers, the Aiyuk comparison is now head-to-head with their draft capital aligned. Aiyuk landed in San Francisco at Pick 25 in 2020 with Deebo Samuel ahead of him on the depth chart and grew into a 1,000-yard role by Year 3. Stribling arrives at Pick 33 into a deeper room. The 49ers depth chart currently lists Mike Evans and Ricky Pearsall in the top tier with Stribling slotting in the second wave alongside Demarcus Robinson and Jordan Watkins. George Kittle is working back from his Achilles tear with a Week 1 target, and Brock Purdy is will be the Quarterback for the foreseeable future. For Stribling, Year 1 could be measured in his late season usage before a possible Year 2 jump.

What Is De’Zhaun Stribling’s SPS Grade?

For those of you who aren’t familiar, The Star-Predictor Score (SPS) is a scouting tool designed to maximize investment potential and reduce risks when drafting rookies in Fantasy Football. It is proven to have a higher accuracy than draft capital alone to predict fantasy football success. The SPS includes 13 to 17 metrics, with the exact number varying by the player’s position. All metrics are pre-NFL – and some are proprietary to BrainyBallers – providing a complete analysis of a player’s analytical profile. The SPS gained widespread notoriety for its high accuracy, having made it on Barstool and The Pat McAfee Show. The SPS database can be found here, and future projected SPS grades can be unlocked here.

As the Pat McAfee crew noted when reviewing our top 10 all-time prospects graphic: “They haven’t missed… those are all the guys they predicted would be stars and they hit on all of them.” 

The Verdict

Can De’Zhaun Stribling’s path lead him from late-rising Day 2 prospect to featured 49ers receiver in the years to come now that San Francisco has staked Pick 33 on him? The film points to real upside potential. The landing spot – a Shanahan offense with Brock Purdy under center, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Mike Evans all drawing defensive attention and retirement rumors – are all undeniable. The Star-Predictor Score (SPS) measures the 13-17 pre-NFL metrics that separate dynasty WR1s from dynasty WR3s, independent of all subjectivity. The answer to where Stribling’s official SPS grade falls is one click away. Is his profile built for the long haul?