The San Francisco 49ers’ second-round pick had an emphatic response to critics in his pre-season debut.The 49ers turned heads on draft night when they selected wideout De’Zhaun Stribling from Ole Miss with the 33rd pick.The Niners selection of Ole Miss wideout Stribling was baffling at the timeGettyThe selection was so widely-criticized that general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan were forced to defend their draft strategy.Stepping onto Levi’s Stadium turf for the first time, Stribling wasted no time in justifying his selection.Against the Tennessee Titans, who the Niners had only recently brawled with at a joint practice, Stribling caught seven of eight targets, accumulating 68 yards.Stribling consistently won his matchups against Tennessee’s defense, and did everything but find the end zone for a touchdown.NFL Weekly Newsletter - SIGN UP!talkSPORT is your home for NFL in the UK as we launch our biggest year of coverage yet!2026 promises to be an epic year for NFL on talkSPORT – and we want you to join us for the ride.SIGN UP HERE!This season will be our biggest ever with live commentary of 90+ games, including behind-the-scenes access to international games and all three London fixtures, plus bumper coverage of Super Bowl 61 at SoFi Stadium.Exclusive interviews, hard-hitting opinion, latest front-office drama and top breaking news – all delivered straight to your inbox each week.It’s safe to say that fans are no longer considering him as a draft ‘reach’.“The 49ers can bubble wrap De’Zhaun Stribling. The best WR from the 2026 draft class is ready to go for the regular season,” 49ers reporter David Lombardi said.“This kid looks like the real deal, can’t wait to watch more of him,” one fan said.“Looks like an absolute natural already, the Niners deffo got a good one here,” a second added.“For the people saying it’s too early to tell, enough, I have seen enough to know this kid has a bright future ahead of him,” a third added.His impressive debut is great news for Shanahan, who has a plethora of offensive weapons on the sidelines.Stribling caught seven passes for 68 yards in his NFL debutGettyFans were very impressed with his athleticism, and pray he can stay healthy amid the injury surgeGettyWide receivers Mike Evans and Christian Kirk are both injured, with Ricky Pearsall already undergoing season-ending surgery.George Kittle, one of the best tight ends in the league, is still recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered in their Wild Card win over the Philadelphia Eagles.Kurtis Rourke rushed to hospital after Niners lossSan Francisco lost to Tennessee by a score of 19-13 on Thursday, but also got a good look at Kurtis Rourke, their seventh-round 2025 pick.Niners brass are very high on the young quarterback, who was sidelined for the entirety of his redshirt season with a knee injury.Rourke completed 12 of 14 passes for 101 yards before leaving the game after reportedly struggling to breathe.Shanahan said after the loss that he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but he was rushed to hospital as a precaution.Rourke was rushed to the hospital as a precautionGetty“They said ribs, he was struggling to breathe so they took him to the hospital just to check on him and make sure he’s alright,” Shanahan said.“X-rays in here didn’t show it was broken, they just wanted to get more imaging and find out, so they weren’t too concerned. “I don’t want to downplay it but I don’t want to overplay it either.”Adrian Martinez filled in for Rourke when he left the game, and completed 16 of 30 passes for 159 yards.