Brandon Aiyuk can finally deliver 49ers a breakout season in 2022

What to expect from Brandon Aiyuk this season

Brandon Aiyuk likely would have been the biggest benefactor, had the 49ers moved Deebo Samuel during the offseason.

That’s still a possibility, yes, but it seems less and less likely with each passing week leading up to the regular season. Despite that, one should probably shake off the notion that Aiyuk will start off as slow as he did a year ago, meaning he should feasibly get a jump on getting closer to 1,000 yards in contrast to 2021.

Much of this hinges on Trey Lance, of course. But if there’s one player who stands to benefit the most from Lance’s capabilities, it’s Aiyuk.

As such, a 1,000-yard campaign certainly isn’t out of the question.

Still, Aiyuk is poised to play “second fiddle” to Samuel in 2022, the proverbial “John Taylor to Jerry Rice” from the Niners’ heydays in the 1980s.

That’s not necessarily a bad role, though, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Aiyuk have some of those monster games from time to time when opposing defenses are doing everything they can to lock down Samuel.

Aiyuk, at his best this season, won’t be putting himself into any leaderboard discussions, but that 1,000-yard campaign would certainly be an excellent goal.