Why the 49ers Finally Let Brandon Aiyuk Return Punts

Brandon Aiyuk isn't just an excellent wide receiver. He's an excellent returner as well. And now he's the 49ers primary punt returner.

Brandon Aiyuk isn't just an excellent wide receiver. He's an excellent returner as well. And now he's the 49ers primary punt returner.

Last season at Arizona State, Aiyuk averaged a whopping 31.9 yards per kickoff return, and 16.1 yards per punt return. Monster numbers. But the 49ers hadn't let him return any punts of kickoffs until this past Sunday, and it was unclear why. Finally against the Bills, Aiyuk returned his first punt, and gained 16 yards.

On Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan explained why he waited so long to make Aiyuk the punt returner.

"I've been wanting to use him," Shanahan said. "We always knew we would use him there if he did as good as he did in college and nothing has changed. We felt that since the day we met him, but you want to wait until he's consistently getting out there, getting a few more practices in. I told him on Wednesday that he was going to have some opportunities in the game. That's also what went into Trent Taylor going down. We knew we could go with Richie James or Aiyuk. 

"I wanted to give Aiyuk a chance and he got one on the first punt of the game, and he did with it what we were hoping he could do. When you have a starting receiver like that, you're probably not going to put him out there every single time, but I view punt returns and kick returns as two totally different things. Punt returns I think are a lot easier to protect yourself as opposed to a kickoff returns. Doesn't mean you can't get hurt, though. You can get hurt on anything."

Meaning Aiyuk will return some punts, but not all of them, and probably will return zero kickoffs. Shanahan wants to protect his No. 1 wide receiver as much as possible. Understandable.

But the more he allows Aiyuk to play special teams, the better for the 49ers. He's special. He needs the ball in his hands as much as possible.