The San Francisco 49ers’ attempt to trade for John Metchie makes sense on the surface as they need depth after multiple injuries at wide receiver.
Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, and Jordan Watkins are all sidelined with an injury, while Jacob Cowing has yet to be active for a preseason game. Oh, and Demarcus Robinson will likely miss the first three games of the season. Sans Ricky Pearsall, that’s the top of the depth chart for the 49ers.
Aiyuk is likely to begin the season on the PUP list and miss at least four games. However, with each passing day, it appears that the Niners’ star wide receiver is getting closer and closer to 100 percent. He was running routes pre-game against the Las Vegas Raiders this past weekend:
Realistically, Aiyuk would be about 85 percent around Week 6, and take another month-ish to get back into football shape and see his full workload around Week 12. That timeline doesn’t mean Purdy isn’t still champing at the bit to get back out there with Aiyuk.
Purdy spoke about how Aiyuk’s been during his rehab process:
I think B.A.’s mindset has been awesome. On the sideline, at practice, in the locker room, just talking on the sidelines during the preseason games, you could tell he wants to be out there. And we’re talking about routes and different concepts and things.
And just overall, you could tell — obviously, he looks great, physically, progressing in the right way with his knee — but more than anything, you can tell he wants to get back out there and compete, which I love.
The history that we’ve had on the field together has been awesome. So, obviously, when you’ve got our starting X eager to get back, that’s awesome. But we’re going to take it one day at a time, and whenever he’s able to get back out there and stuff, we’ll be ready to roll.
The last thing the Niners want to do is rush Aiyuk’s return and for him to suffer a setback, or for Aiyuk not to be fully ready. This is an offense that needs Aiyuk. This is a team that paid Aiyuk to be the player that he was in 2023. The stats may not have backed it up, but Aiyuk’s route running led to him being the top separator in 2024.
Suppose the 49ers can get that player back. With how Ricky Pearsall has looked and Demarcus Robinson in the fold, there won’t be a need for a wide receiver. Then again, was there ever, outside of depth?
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