49ers roster: Power ranking top 10 offensive players entering Week 7

The 49ers offense has been downright frustrating to watch at times this season, but an NFL power rankings-style breakdown suggests there are bright spots.

The San Francisco 49ers need to figure out their offensive identity coming out of their Week 6 bye, and at 2-3 with a playoff berth now very much in question, head coach Kyle Shanahan has to do some serious “soul searching” to determine how to fix what’s turned into a frustratingly inconsistent offense.

There’s a quarterback controversy between Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, even though Shanahan has aggressively tried denying such a thing is taking place. Second-year wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk hasn’t been involved much this season, prompting other questions, too, while injuries have already claimed players like running back Raheem Mostert and tight end George Kittle.

Despite all this, the Niners still own the No. 17 scoring offense entering Week 7. So, it’s not as if Shanahan’s offense has fallen apart to the point of being absolutely laughable.

One of the reasons why is a number of players are still contributing at a high level, which prompts us to list out the top 10 offensive players for San Francisco through six weeks, NFL power rankings-style.

No. 10: 49ers Wide Receiver Brandon Aiyuk

Putting Aiyuk on this list suggests one of two possible things, both of which could essentially be true.

Aiyuk, despite being targeted 15 times with eight receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, is objectively in Shanahan’s proverbial “doghouse” to start the season but is still a more viable option for the 49ers offense than some of its other pass-catchers at the position, namely wide receivers Mohamed Sanu, Trent Sherfield and Travis Benjamin.

Those three aren’t anywhere close to the caliber of receiver Aiyuk is, so perhaps the lack of overall production from non-Aiyuk wide receivers not named Deebo Samuel is another reason why Aiyuk has to place here.

Either way, Aiyuk should be much higher on this list based on his first-round NFL Draft pedigree and the kind of impact he’s expected to have after flashing plenty of promise his rookie season a year ago.

Right now, though, Aiyuk is at the very bottom of the top 10, which says a lot about both his lack of impact and the fact the Niners are hurting for other offensive weapons through six weeks.