The 49ers threw a little bit of a curveball late in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. First, they passed on Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb, the two consensus top receivers available when San Francisco picked at No. 14. Then, they traded up from No. 31 to No. 25 to pick Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said in his post-draft press conference that Aiyuk was his favorite receiver in the class, even ahead of Jeudy, Lamb and Alabama’s Henry Ruggs III, who went No. 12 overall to the Raiders.
Shanahan joined Tim Kawakami on the TK Show podcast and elaborated on why he liked Aiyuk more than any other receiver in a deep 2020 class.
“When I look at Aiyuk I like that he can run every single route,” Shanahan told Kawakami. “He can run them from all three positions. The toughness he plays with. He’s a very smart player. He can do everything. He did time out a 4.5 (40-yard dash), but he had one of the fastest (10-yard splits) in the draft, which means I think he can get from zero to 10 yards as fast as anyone, and that translates pretty well. And I do think he runs better than his 4.5 on tape. You look at like his GPS times, which we get a lot of, and he’s one of the faster receivers that’s recorded in games. So, I like how he plays.”
The 49ers used GPS times to track linebacker Dre Greenlaw in last year’s draft and determined he was faster than his testing indicated. It sounds like they received the same feedback from the data on Aiyuk.
Shanahan also said the 49ers were ready to trade back if Javon Kinlaw wasn’t available. He was, so they moved back one spot to No. 14 and picked him there. They didn’t expect Aiyuk to last to the mid-20s and thought they wouldn’t have a chance to pick him. When he slid to 25 though, Shanahan and the 49ers pounced.
The result was limited draft capital, but San Francisco walked away from the first round with the top two players on their board and filled both of their biggest needs.
It’ll be interesting to see how much the 49ers put on Aiyuk’s plate early in his NFL career. They eased Deebo Samuel in last season, but they wouldn’t have traded three picks to move up in the first round if they didn’t think Aiyuk was going to have a significant impact. He’s due to replace Emmanuel Sanders, who became one of Jimmy Garoppolo’s favorite targets after arriving in San Francisco via midseason trade.
If Shanahan is right about Aiyuk and the rookie quickly earns the trust of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers will be very difficult to stop.
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