49ers

49ers QB Brock Purdy believes that second-round rookie WR De’Zhaun Stribling is going to come in and make a big impact for the team’s offense in his first year.

“Dude is a baller, and I mean that,” Purdy said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “It’s hard to say that for a rookie, right off the jump, but just seeing him run routes, going up against defenders in OTAs and then in camp yesterday. He’s a great route runner. He’s smart. He’s learned the playbook really quick, which is awesome. And then, on top of that, you can see his strength, too. When he’s going up against guys and creating separation, I’m like, ‘Alright, this guy’s a strong receiver.’ And so, I’m excited to see what he does, but all of us, all the quarterbacks in the room, were like, ‘Alright, this guy’s going to be a guy that’s going to come in and play.’”

When appearing on ESPN’s NFL Live, Adam Schefter said there were some differing opinions about Stribling. Some teams agreed with the media consensus that No. 33 overall was too early for him to go in the 2026 NFL Draft, while other teams viewed him as the best receiver in the draft. Schefter mentions the Rams had eyes on Stribling for their late second-round pick. 

“What’s interesting about this selection is there were some people that wondered if it was too early for De’Zhaun Stribling to go and yet there were a couple of teams that I spoke to leading up to the draft that felt like that De’Zhaun Stribling was the best wide receiver in the draft,” Schefter said. “Another team, supposedly the Los Angeles Rams had eyes on him as well. The 49ers didn’t just come up with this pick out of nowhere, they knew that there were other teams that had a very high grade on Stribling when the 49ers declined to trade out the top draft slot in the second round and take him there.”

Cardinals

Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Love enters his rookie season after being the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. Arizona HC Mike LaFleur said their 11-on-11 drills in training camp gave him a sense of their running backs, but expects to get a better look at their players when the preseason starts. 

“It’s a better sense (of where the running backs are) but not the best sense,” LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team’s site. “We’re not going to tackle. The first time they are going to feel that is when we are in Canton when we play Carolina. But you do get a better sense. We’ll be able to get more runs off, more believable runs, our play-action can marry up with it a little bit more … there should be and will be a more physical brand of ball. The backs will feel that.”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay said he never believed that DL Aaron Donald would consider coming out of retirement.

“To be honest, I didn’t because the relationship that I have with him,” McVay said, via Rams Wire. “When he let me in, you talk about a guy that did this for 10 years and gave every ounce of his soul to this game, who’s also a committed husband, father, son. He’s got so much range and so much depth and when he sat down with me and he said, ‘I’m full, I’m complete,’ he meant it and I believed him. I think out of respect for him, you don’t revisit those things. Honestly, how that conversation unfolded is because he’s a close friend of mine. When we were going through the possibility of acquiring Myles, I asked him what his thoughts and opinions were, just from no different than the way I talk to [Andrew] Whitworth or keep in touch with Eric Weddle or former players of ours that I think have great perspective on how we operate and what does it look like. I think it’s helpful when you value people’s opinions. That’s really what stimulated the conversation of the possibility, but this is his decision. He’s earned the right to be able to do it on his terms and that’s why I think you guys are seeing us take this approach. I did not ever really think this would be something, but I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m not excited about the possibility of it.”