Deebo Samuel vs Brandon Aiyuk: Who has the Better 2023 Season for the 49ers?
2022 was a statement season for Brandon Aiyuk. It's the best season he's had since the 49ers drafted him and marked the beginning of his arrival.
The same cannot be said for his counterpart wide receiver Deebo Samuel. He fell into the abyss when it came to productivity as opposed to his magical 2021 season. Aiyuk was the significantly better player than him in 2022, and that might end up being the same again in 2023. Both receivers are looking to break out this year. On one end you have Aiyuk who is claiming he's going to "take off" in 2023. On the other end you have Samuel who is extremely motivated to rewrite his "trash" 2021 season.
With Aiyuk, he has ascended and improved upon his prior season every year since he became pro. There is little doubt, if any, that he will be better. It's expected that he will at this point. With Samuel, he has the higher ceiling than Aiyuk given his explosiveness and influence over more players on the defense but is questionable on if he can get anywhere close to his 2021 impact.
What Samuel has going for him is he's actually taking care of his body by staying in shape. He didn't do that this time last year with the negotiations ongoing for his contract extension, which factored into his poor year. The combination of that and his disappointment in himself from last year could prove to be a scary thing for opposing defenses.
So, who has the better 2023 season for the 49ers between Samuel and Aiyuk?
I have to go with Aiyuk. All the momentum is on his side as he enters a contract year. Players tend to go off in those seasons like Samuel did in 2021 or Arik Armstead in 2019. Aiyuk has always one-upped his previous season's performance and now he's got all the motivation in the world to be dominant as he plays for his second contract to be lucrative. He's also the better pure wide receiver than Samuel is.
Of course, Samuel does have the advantage of being a dual threat with the capability of ripping off chunk plays, or gigantic touchdown runs. I fully expect Samuel to be better than he was last season. He'll look faster, stronger, and overall be more efficient. But where I think he will fall short next to Aiyuk is the talent around him. He's competing with Christian McCaffrey for carries and Aiyuk for catches. He's not the best at either position over the other guy.
I foresee Samuel totaling 1,200 all-purpose yards with five or six total touchdowns. It's a tremendous impact for the offense and I expect he'll have dominant stretches too. Samuel is poised for a bounce back season and will be looking at elite status again. However, he will fall short of the year Aiyuk is bound to have who is staring over 1,000 receiving yards in the face again amongst a plethora of catches. The touchdowns are all he needs an uptick in, which will be seen.
Aiyuk should have the better 2023 season than Samuel when it is all said and done.
