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ESPN Projects 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk to Have a Down Season in 2024
Brandon Aiyuk wants to be paid like an elite wide receiver. But the fifth-year pro has had just one elite season -- 2023. And ESPN's Mike Clay doesn't expect him to replicate it in 2024.
Last season, Aiyuk caught 75 passes, gained 1,342 yards and scored 7 touchdowns. This season, ESPN projects Aiyuk to catch 75 passes, gain 1,068 yards and score 7 touchdowns. Which wouldn't be a bad season -- it would be in line with the production Aiyuk had in 2022. But he wasn't an All Pro or a Pro Bowler that season. He ranked 22nd in receiving yards.
This is why the 49ers must be extremely careful before they give Aiyuk a contract extension that makes him one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL.
Aiyuk hasn't proven that he can produce at an elite level consistently. He has done so for just one season. Deebo Samuel also had one All Pro season -- 2021. And immediately after, the 49ers gave him a lucrative contract extension which he's never been able to live up to.
It's possible that Aiyuk will average more than 17 yards per catch once again this season. But in 2022, he averaged 13.0 yards per catch. In 2021, he averaged 14.8 yards per catch. And in 2020, he averaged 12.5 yards per catch. So it seems that 2023 -- a contract season -- might have been an outlier.
Aiyuk is an outstanding talent, but if he can't consistently crack the top 20 in receiving yards, is he really worth more than $25 million per season to the 49ers?
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.