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49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk Explains Why His Numbers are Down

It sounds like Aiyuk is blaming Kyle Shanahan for his lack of production.

Grant Cohn

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) runs after a catch against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) runs after a catch against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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SANTA CLARA -- This offseason, the 49ers gave Brandon Aiyuk a contract extension that makes him the fifth-highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. But through three games, Aiyuk ranks just 65th in the league in receiving yards.

The 49ers aren't getting their money's worth.

On Wednesday in the 49ers' locke room, Aiyuk discussed why his production has dipped. Here's what he said:

Q: Have you noticed defenses playing you any differently this season through three games?

AIYUK: "A little bit different. They just know what we want to do, what we like to do, me and Purdy especially."

Q: How do you work through that?

AIYUK: "Practice today. Try to get in different spots, get in different looks."

Q: Does that open things up for other guys?

AIYUK: "I think we all open things up for each other depending on where we're at on certain plays."

Q: I'm sure you hear people saying you're not putting up your usual numbers. Do you feel more pressure than usual? Is this different right now?

AIYUK: "It's different, but anybody who has watched 49ers football for the last four years besides last year knows this is not much different."

MY TAKE: It sounds like Aiyuk is blaming Kyle Shanahan for his lack of production. Saying that teams have caught on to the way Shanahan uses Aiyuk and that Shanahan needs some new ideas.

To be fair, Shanahan does seem to have a new idea -- throw the ball to Jauan Jennings. He currently is the NFL's third-leading receiver while Aiyuk is the most expensive decoy in football.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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