Is Brandon Aiyuk the 49ers' Most Underappreciated Player?

So many players on the 49ers are underappreciated.
January 20, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers in a 2024 NFC divisional round game at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
January 20, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers in a 2024 NFC divisional round game at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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So many players on the 49ers are underappreciated.

They have arguably the best roster in the NFL, and yet the top five or six players get most of the attention. We're talking Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams and Brock Purdy. Those are the stars.

CBS NFL Analyst Jeff Kerr believes Brandon AIiyuk should be in that group as well and named him the most underappreciated player on the roster.

"The 49ers have not given Aiyuk a contract extension yet, but this should have been taken care of months ago. Aiyuk proved in 2023 he's the best wide receiver on the 49ers after having the best season of his career.

"Aiyuk had 1,342 receiving yards last year (seventh in NFL) and joined Jerry Rice as the only players in franchise history with 7+ 100-yard receiving games in a season. He averaged 3.1 yards per route run in 2023, the third-best rate in the NFL behind Tyreek Hill and Nico Collins (minimum 400 routes). Aiyuk was second in the league in yards per catch (17.9) and led the NFL in percentage of catches going for a first down or touchdown (81.3%).

"Aiyuk is the first player in 49ers' history with 55+ catches, 740+ yards and 5+ touchdowns in each of his first four seasons. He's 11th in receiving yards (2,357), 16th in yards per catch (15.4) and tied for 11th in receiving touchdowns (15) over the last two seasons -- all while being the No. 2 wideout on a stacked 49ers roster.

"Playing under the fifth-year option on his rookie deal at $14.124 million, Aiyuk is worth significantly more than what he'll make this season. With the wide receiver market booming, Aiyuk deserves to get a hefty raise -- from the 49ers or someone else."

With all due respect to Aiyuk, Kerr is overselling him a bit. Yes, he's an excellent wide receiver. But he has had just one special season. His previous three seasons were good but not great. And now he's asking for roughly $30 million per season and if he doesn't get it this year, he'll get it next year. So it's hard to say he's underappreciated or undervalued.

To me, the most underappreciated player on the 49ers is Charvarius Ward. He's a top 5 cornerback in the NFL while Aiyuk isn't a top 5 wide receiver. And if those two were to match up in a game, Ward would win more often than Aiyuk.


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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.