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San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk isn’t just drawing attention from his teammates and coaches.
NFL analyst, Brett Kollman of The Film Room, has a crazy hot take on what to expect from the second-year wideout.
“By the end of this season, we’re going be talking about Brandon Aiyuk the same way we talk about Davante Adams,” Kollman tweeted.
He added in another tweet, “Y’all lost your mind last year when I said Jefferson was gonna be better than Thielen by the time we got to October. And the year before that when I had Terry and DK as my highest rated rookie WRs. I know it sounds crazy but this ain’t even my craziest WR take I’ve had tbh.”
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Aiyuk Looks Up to Adams
The Niners selected Aiyuk with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. Months later, he set to face the Green Bay Packers and the player he looked up to the most coming out of college.
“Davante Adams, when I was coming out of college, he was one of the main receivers that I watched,” Aiyuk said Week 8 of 2020, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “All the games from last season and what he does, and what he’s able to do at the line of scrimmage and with his route running.
“He’s actually my pro comparison, so I love watching Davante Adams. I try to take stuff out of his bag and put it in mine.”
Adams has been talked among the best wideouts in the NFL since joining the league in 2014 as a instant impact on the Packers. The four-time Pro Bowler suffered some injuries in his early career but popped off in 2017. He’s now known as the top route runner and Aaron Rodgers’ right-hand man.
Last season, Adams caught 115 balls (second in the league) for 1,374 yards (fifth) and he led the NFL with his 18 touchdowns.
As for Aiyuk, he reeled in 60 receptions for 748 yards and five receiving and carried the football six times for 77 yards. He set some new benchmarks with those numbers–– ranking third all-time in franchise history for a “rook” for receiving yards, second all-time for receptions, and tied for second among first-year players with his receiving touchdowns.
Davante Adams is a big name live up to, but it’s not impossible for a natural talent like Aiyuk.
Jimmy Garoppolo Is in Sync With Aiyuk
Aiyuk spent OTAs sideline with a groin injury but took full advantage of his rest days to come back healthy and ready for training camp.
And his preparation didn’t go unnoticed by head coach Kyle Shanahan: “He had a little bit of setback and just talking to him and seeing him out there, he’s done everything he can to improve off that. I feel he’s in a better spot, but time will tell.”
Garoppolo didn’t get a chance to work out with Aiyuk this offseason, but the starting QB1 is already confident in the chemistry he’s built with Aiyuk.
“He’s just one of those guys, his body language, it allows me to anticipate throws,” Garoppolo said following a throw that went viral. “So we had a couple of them today. The breakdown in the play that you’re talking about … usually as a quarterback, you’ve got to point them where you want him. And he just broke literally when I broke, when we escaped the pocket together.”
Aiyuk wasn’t off to a great start during his rookie season, but when Deebo Samuel was struck with a hamstring injury, he was forced to step up under pressure which changed his game for the better.
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