One of the biggest talking points about the San Francisco 49ers’ wide receivers during the past calendar year has been their perceived lack of separation. Expectations for Brandon Aiyuk were sky-high after earning a lucrative contract extension.
Unfortunately, negotiations prior to signing the deal meant Aiyuk wasn’t on the practice field. The prevailing thought was that Aiyuk would need a few games to play himself into shape. An unfortunate injury in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs cut Aiyuk’s season short. He finished the year with 25 receptions for 374 receiving yards, an average of 15 yards a pop. Aiyuk looked to be rounding into form, especially after having over 140 receiving yards in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals.
However, all offseason, the loud minority of 49ers’ fans were adamant that Aiyuk hadn’t lived up to his contract status in those seven games. He wasn’t separating. He wasn’t scoring. He wasn’t taking the offense to another level.
According to Daniel Griffis, Aiyuk remained one of the very best separators in the NFL, despite his lack of perceived production:
Aiyuk finds him at or near the top of the list for five of the routes. I’d argue that if he ran more post routes, Aiyuk would threaten to top route runners there, too.
It’s a list that confirms my priors, as I never watched Aiyuk and thought, “Yeah, he’s having a down year and the 49ers are really regretting extending him.” Was there buyer’s remorse? I’m sure it’s never fun for an owner to shell out over $100 million. The cherry on top, and in my opinion, the only reason there was ever backlash toward Aiyuk, was because he suffered an injury.
The passing offense took a nosedive in key areas, like the red zone and on third down, without Aiyuk — as you’d expect without a top wide receiver. The 49ers don’t extend Brock Purdy if he’s not surrounded by a No. 1 wide receiver. It’s a different topic, but I’d expect Purdy to look closer to the 2023 version of himself once he has his leading target from 2023 back in the fold.
Why? Because Aiyuk can run every route that Kyle Shanahan asks of his wideouts, and do so in a way that very few can in this league. Aiyuk’s suddenness and ability to make every route look the same put him in a tier of receivers that you can count on a single hand.
There are over 60 plays in a game, so trying to gauge how a player performs only when he’s targeted misses the boat. Aiyuk was open and open often last year:
It may take him a game or two to get right in 2025, but it’d be a story if Aiyuk weren’t one of the top separators in the NFL once again this season. It’s been like that for two years now.
About the Author: Insidethe49
