Tag: Brandon Aiyuk stats

Brandon Aiyuk breakout unlikely to come vs. Patriots lockdown CB

The Brandon Aiyuk breakout game is coming … just not this week … probably.

The long-awaited breakout game for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk may not be coming in Week 4 when the 49ers host the New England Patriots and star cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Aiyuk through three games has just 11 catches for 119 yards on 20 targets. He’s still looking for his first touchdown in 2024. For comparison, he was at 17 receptions, 320 yards and two touchdowns through his first three games last season.

There’s an understandable frustration bubbling up from fans after Aiyuk missed all of training camp and the preseason before agreeing to a four-year, $120 million contract on Aug. 29. His absence from camp is being blamed for his paltry production and two drops through three games (he had two drops all of last season).

It stands to reason there’s a breakout coming for the 2023 All-Pro eventually. Aiyuk is getting separation, there’s clearly a little rust with him and quarterback Brock Purdy still and the entire 49ers’ offense is still settling in without running back Christian McCaffrey.

On the other hand, it’s nigh impossible to expect Aiyuk’s first big performance of the season to come against Gonzalez, who has been sensational through the Patriots’ first three games.

In Week 1 he matched up with Cincinnati Bengals’ superstar WR Ja’Marr Chase. He held Chase to just 15 yards and three catches on three targets.

In Week 2 he drew Seattle Seahawks WR DK Metcalf. Gonzalez notched one pass breakup and held Metcalf to four catches and 27 yards on seven targets.

Last week it was New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson who did log a touchdown against Gonzalez per Pro Football Focus. The TD was the highlight of a nine-target, five-catch, 33-yard day for Wilson against the second-year CB.

That trio of receivers combined for 19 targets, 12 receptions, 75 yards and one touchdown when matched up against Gonzalez. He held quarterbacks to a passer rating of 88.7 when targeting Chase, Metcalf and Wilson.

Chances are Aiyuk will draw Gonzalez more often than not when the Patriots visit Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, especially with WR Deebo Samuel still out. Perhaps Gonzalez matches up with WR Jauan Jennings instead after Jennings’ monster outing against the Rams in Week 3. In that event we may see a big-time day for Aiyuk. If it’s Gonzalez on Aiyuk though, it may be a fourth consecutive quiet day for San Francisco’s superstar receiver.

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Numbers say 49ers WR trending toward All-Pro form despite slow start

Brandon Aiyuk was open a lot in Week 2. Brock Purdy has to start finding him.

It appears the San Francisco 49ers are quickly seeing some of the adversity generated when a wide receiver misses all of training camp.

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and quarterback Brock Purdy haven’t been able to get on the same page in the 49ers’ first two games. Aiyuk, who missed all of training camp because of dispute over a long-term contract extension, has 10 targets so far this season. He’s hauled in six of them for 71 yards. His longest catch went for 22 yards.

Part of the blame can fall on his playing time. Through two weeks he’s played 73 percent of the 49ers’ offensive snaps. Last year he played in 82 percent. In 2022 he was at 91 percent.

There’s more to it than just playing time, and there appears to be more to it than just Aiyuk getting in playing shape. While playing shape may have been a problem in Week 1, peripheral stats indicate Purdy just didn’t get Aiyuk the ball in Week 2.

Pro Football Focus ran the numbers on separation for pass catchers through two weeks. They have a metric called ‘separation percentage’ which aims to measure “how often a receiver beats the coverage to get open rather than benefiting from a defense more focused on limiting yards after the catch or stopping them short of the first down,” according to their website.

Week 1 wasn’t good for Aiyuk. He created separation on only four of his 12 opportunities. Those numbers help paint the picture of why he earned only five targets.

Week 2 was substantially better. Per PFF he had 14 opportunities and gained separation on 12 of them. His 85.71 separation percentage was the sixth-best in the NFL in Week 2. Alas, the uptick in separation didn’t lead to an uptick in targets. Purdy threw him the ball only five times again.

This is something that has to get remedied immediately. All indications are that Aiyuk is trending quickly toward his All-Pro form. Purdy now needs to look his way with more frequency. That was always going to be the case, but there’s a dramatic uptick in urgency with Deebo Samuel joining Christian McCaffrey on the sidelines with a calf injury.

Purdy and Aiyuk need to get on the same page because the quicker they do, the quicker the 49ers can overcome injuries and solve some of the offensive issues that have plagued them on third down and in the red zone so far in 2024.

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