49ers: What is outlook of Brandon Aiyuk moving forward?

Without Deebo Samuel, how high is the ceiling of Brandon Aiyuk for th 49ers?

Brandon Aiyuk absolutely tore up the Pac-12 last year with 1,192 receiving yards, the fifth highest mark in Arizona State’s history. It was no surprise that he went in the first round to the San Francisco 49ers, but Aiyuk to San Francisco has been a match made in heaven.

He finished second in all of the FBS with 710 of his yards coming after the catch. Head coach Kyle Shanahan saw a ton of immediate success from 2019 second rounder Deebo Samuel in his rookie season, and Aiyuk has been nothing different.

Shanahan uses pre-snap motions very frequently – dating back to his tenure in Cleveland and Atlanta, Shanahan motions and shifts more than anyone else. There are few coaches who use motioning and shifts to manipulate leverage and mismatches as well as Shanahan. Insert someone like Aiyuk who can create after the catch to his ability and it’s a perfect match:

Similar to Deebo, Aiyuk can be moved to the outside, the slot, and like the clip from above, in the backfield. He doesn’t run with as much sheer violence and aggression as Samuel, but he’s just as dynamic.

The 49ers have a league-leading 14 players on the IR and have had to adjust to an array of injuries from key contributors. They lost Deebo this past week due to a hamstring strain and is expected to miss at least the next two weeks.

Aiyuk is coming off his best performance in his young NFL career with six catches on seven targets for 115 yards. Without Deebo in the equation, Aiyuk becomes Shanahan’s favorite weapon at his disposal not named George Kittle:

https://twitter.com/Coach_Yac/status/1321107358953705475

Expect a variety of ways for Aiyuk to get the ball this weekend against Seattle including jet sweeps, bubbles, screens, and eventually, shots down the field. Despite being in a run-heavy, slow-paced offense with mediocre quarterback play, Aiyuk has already what a weapon he can be in this 49ers offense: