SF 49ers: Rookie report-card grades halfway through 2020 season
By Peter Panacy
Round 1: SF 49ers Wide Receiver Brandon Aiyuk
A. . Wide Receiver. San Francisco 49ers. BRANDON AIYUK
Another change from his first-quarter grade, Brandon Aiyuk sees himself go from an A-minus to a straight A-grade instead.
Why? Well, back-to-back games in Weeks 7 and 8 where he recorded 115 and 91 yards, respectively, on a combined 14 catches with a touchdown are a pretty good indicator he’s acclimating just fine to the rigors of life at the NFL level.
Aiyuk is also fitting into Kyle Shanahan’s offensive mantra of picking up yards after the catch. So far, he’s averaging 5.0 yards after the catch on each reception and already has 140 YAC yards over seven games played.
If he had been fully healthy to start the season and didn’t miss San Francisco’s Week 9 bout because of him being on the reserve/COVID-19 list, this would be an easy A-plus mark.
To date, Aiyuk ranks second on the offense with 371 receiving yards only to tight end George Kittle. But with Kittle out with a foot injury for perhaps the rest of the season, it’s highly possible Aiyuk winds up being the SF 49ers’ leading pass-catcher for 2020.
Looks like the Niners made the right choice towards the tail end of Round 1 last April.