Every time I think of Brandon Aiyuk, I’m reminded of the Kyle Shanahan draft night video that was circulated on websites with the 49ershead coach vividly celebrating the selection of the arizona state receiver.
At this point last year, there were more questions than answers surrounding Aiyuk’s handiwork, as it apparently fell into Shanahan’s infamous “dog house.” He fell behind on the depth chart and didn’t find himself playing many snaps early in the season. Despite the slow start, Aiyuk finished the season strong and actually had more receiving yards and the same number of touchdowns in his second season than he did in his first.
Entering his third season, I’m extremely optimistic about Brandon Aiyuk’s prospects in this offense, especially given the transition to Trey Lance at quarterback. If you’ve followed Lance or Aiyuk on social media, it’s clear the two share a bond that extends beyond the football field, including a recent trip to San Diego, CA, where they had a pitching session and a lunch with the 49ers. brass.
Lance’s ability to push the ball out of the numbers and down the field should only boost Aiyuk’s numbers even more. Last season, 15.5 percent of Lance’s passes went for 20 yards, and he had a 45.5 percent completion rate on those attempts. Aiyuk will be the direct beneficiary of Lance’s ability to connect passes all over the field.
You still don’t believe me? Kyle Shanahan spoke at length Wednesday about Brandon Aiyuk’s growth this offseason:
And I think that was the good thing about listening to Brandon. [Aiyuk] because his rookie season was the COVID year. And then he had nothing in the offseason. He just showed up here and we didn’t even know until about two weeks before he showed up if we had a season or not, so he was kind of behind schedule and then training camp was kind of a joke for the whole league. And so the season was kind of weird and then we had so many people get hurt and he had to play a lot, but that’s all he knew with the NFL. So the experience of him is man, I just showed up and started the whole year and people say I’m going to be one of the best next year. And he has that ability, but he thought that was the NFL. And the upcoming COVID off-season still, we didn’t have the right rules. And he didn’t know that he had to do anything until the camp, so he just delayed a little bit. And he was like, ‘oh man, this camp is harder than last year.’ It’s like yeah, last year it wasn’t a camp. And then you go into the season and he’s male, this is different. And I think Brandon, instead of blaming other people and making excuses, he worked, he didn’t say much, he just kept working. And he’s a smart, perceptive guy and he learned, wow, this is correct. This is totally different. Man, I’m going to be ready for year three, because year two was really my rookie year and that’s why he’s so much further along right now. And sometimes guys have to cut themselves to learn that. And that’s what you hope kids don’t have to do, but they have to learn it somewhere.”
Kyle Posey attended the first practice of training camp Wednesday morning and watched Aiyuk catch three tough, contested catches and argued that he should be able to push Deebo Samuel this season as the pass-receiving leader on this team.
I think Aiyuk’s chemistry with Lance this offseason, combined with the fact that he’s further along at this point in training camp compared to last season, should lead to a higher workload and production.
It would have been easy for Aiyuk to go the route of former 49ers second-round wide receiver Dante Pettis, who also struggled in his second season but never recovered and found his place in the 49ers. Instead, Aiyuk somehow capitalized on the matches and used them to fuel his even bigger comeback this offseason.
It’s not too late, but it’s time to buy all available shares of Brandon Aiyuk before they run out.