Arizona State head football coach Herm Edwards was careful when he invoked the name Jerry Rice while describing wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Still, the name of the legendary 49ers receiver came up Friday when Edwards joined Damon, Ratto and Kolsky on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco.
The 49ers selected Aiyuk with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 draft. He spent two seasons at Arizona State – both with Edwards.
Edwards brought Rice into the conversation for a very specific reason while describing Aiyuk’s speed, and made sure he wasn’t drawing a direct comparison between the two.
“I’m not saying he’s compared to this guy, because he’s not,” Edwards said. “But Jerry Rice, if you ran him in the 40, you go ‘this guy can’t run.’ Jerry Rice in a football uniform? Playing a football game? And I know — I tried to cover him. You ain’t catching him. That’s football speed. This guy’s got football speed now.”
Aiyuk ran a fairly pedestrian 4.5 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, which may have aided in his slide down the board despite averaging more than 18 yards per catch for the Sun Devils last season.
He looks faster than that on tape though, and his 9.9 yards after the catch speak to him possessing more speed than his 40-yard dash indicates.
Another noteworthy piece of information Edwards gave the show is that he and his wife are the godparents of general manager John Lynch’s daughter, and Lynch and his wife are the godparents to Edwards’ son. Because of that, nothing was off the table when Lynch reached out to Edwards for intel on Aiyuk.
It’s clear the 49ers believe Aiyuk has all the tools to be productive as a receiver in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense. An extra in-game gear that doesn’t show up in workouts should help him take advantage of the space Shanahan’s play calling generates. Add in the notes on intangibles Lynch likely got from Edwards and Aiyuk is on track to prove worthy of the trade up San Francisco made to get him.