Brandon Aiyuk's football obsession paying huge dividends for 49ers receiver
Through the first four days of 49ers training camp, there has been one name on essentially everybody's lips, that of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Writing a review of each practice without mentioning the fourth-year wideout has proven an extremely difficult task. Aiyuk is enjoying another dominant camp, having answered the bell last year as he […]
Through the first four days of 49ers training camp, there has been one name on essentially everybody's lips, that of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
Writing a review of each practice without mentioning the fourth-year wideout has proven an extremely difficult task. Aiyuk is enjoying another dominant camp, having answered the bell last year as he turned a series of strong practices into a career year.
Aiyuk surpassed 1,000 yards for the first time as a pro in 2022 and, after a Sunday session in which he was reported as catching four touchdown passes, there is great reason for hope he can improve on his efforts of last year and establish himself among the elite at his position.
It is a far cry from the start of the 2021 campaign, when Aiyuk had extremely limited influence on the offense after an underwhelming camp.
There has been no looking back for Aiyuk since he recovered from the poor start to his second year, with Kyle Shanahan crediting his continued ascension to an obsession with football.
Explaining what he meant by those comments, Shanahan told reporters:
"I mean just the way he was all offseason. Just how much he, I mean just randomly calling, talking about football, how much he’s working out, how prepared he was when we started in phase one and two. You can just tell he is excited. The questions he asked, he’s just, he’s really into it."
Picking the brain of a football mind like Shanahan is a sure-fire way to elicit improvement while operating in his dynamic offense, but Aiyuk knows he can't read too much into the impact of his conditioning work until the 49ers hold their first padded practice of camp on Monday.
Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Aiyuk said on Sunday:
"I feel good. We will see tomorrow when we put the pads on. It’s a little different when your mind if going a million miles an hour. It seems like your body — it’s just less work that you have to go through. It feels like every play is not just a thousand miles per hour and full exertion on the body. Just to be able to get to certain spots and just play football."
Aiyuk might find more resistance from the defense when the pads go on.
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was more aggressive on Sunday in sending blitzes, with that approach facilitating more opportunities for the offense to exploit open spaces. However, with the pads on, those blitzes may well be accompanied by physical press coverage from the corners tasked with covering Aiyuk.
But attempting to cover Aiyuk has been an exercise in futility so far in camp. San Francisco defenders might now get more hands-on in their efforts to disrupt his timing, but a football-obsessed receiver who has shown a superb proclivity for developing a rapport with all the 49ers quarterbacks will surely embrace the challenge of ensuring the corners do not throw him off his remarkable rhythm.
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