49ers Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Delano

Deebo, CM, and Kittle are all top 61 in the NFL top 100, but I didn’t see Aiyuk in there.

Odd. In 2023, Aiyuk was 7th in total receiving yards with 1,342, 2nd in avg/yds per catch with 17.9, 3rd overall in plays over 20 yards with 28, 9th in avg yds per game with 83.9, and 8th overall in First Downs with 61. He probably should be on that list.

[Delano]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Odd. In 2023, Aiyuk was 7th in total receiving yards with 1,342, 2nd in avg/yds per catch with 17.9, 3rd overall in plays over 20 yards with 28, 9th in avg yds per game with 83.9, and 8th overall in First Downs with 61. He probably should be on that list.

Probably should be on the list somewhere. I think it probably points to how the player is valued by peers more than just ‘is this guy a prototypical position player?’

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Delano

Probably should be on the list somewhere. I think it probably points to how the player is valued by peers more than just ‘is this guy a prototypical position player?’

I mean, who knows how players think? Or any of these guys. Maybe it's just a function of how much primetime they get.

Amon-Ra should've easily made the Pro-Bowl but wasn't selected. Only the AP paid enough attention to select him to the All-Pro first team offense.


A few years ago, iirc, Mike Evans said in a presser that Jameis Winston was an elite QB.


Stuff like that makes me seriously question just how discerning most players really are.

[Delano]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

I mean, who knows how players think? Or any of these guys. Maybe it's just a function of how much primetime they get.

Amon-Ra should've easily made the Pro-Bowl but wasn't selected. Only the AP paid enough attention to select him to the All-Pro first team offense.


A few years ago, iirc, Mike Evans said in a presser that Jameis Winston was an elite QB.


Stuff like that makes me seriously question just how discerning most players really are.

Could be a little bit of that. I don’t know if the media knows what makes a better player than other players or coaches or scouts. Might be a better unbiased ranking for that season’s performance. There needs to be some kind of metacritic score that piles it all together. Except for the fans opinions.

[gordonelloyd]

Pretty sure San Francisco will be able to keep both of them this year, but next year when they have to pay Purdy, they will have to make a choice. I expect they’ll choose Debo. Ayuk is a better pure “wide receiver” but Debo is more valuable. It will also be easier for them to draft another WR who’s probably about as good as Ayuk. There are a lot of guys you could argue are in the same class as him. He is definitely not one of the elite receivers. I don’t think they’re going to draft somebody who provides what Debo does. He’s kind of a unicorn but that assumes he doesn’t go back into getting injured.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by gordonelloyd

Pretty sure San Francisco will be able to keep both of them this year, but next year when they have to pay Purdy, they will have to make a choice. I expect they’ll choose Debo. Ayuk is a better pure “wide receiver” but Debo is more valuable. It will also be easier for them to draft another WR who’s probably about as good as Ayuk. There are a lot of guys you could argue are in the same class as him. He is definitely not one of the elite receivers. I don’t think they’re going to draft somebody who provides what Debo does. He’s kind of a unicorn but that assumes he doesn’t go back into getting injured.

This logic is flawed.

A WR1 is still more "valuable" than a WR2 that can play RB too.

I think so many of you are missing this aspect of team building and roster construction. It's not debatable, Aiyuk is 100% their WR1, and you don't choose your WR2 over your WR1 all things even. If Deebo is the significantly cheaper option, then that's a reason, but not "versatility".

[gordonelloyd]

Originally Posted by staylor26

This logic is flawed.

A WR1 is still more "valuable" than a WR2 that can play RB too.

I think so many of you are missing this aspect of team building and roster construction. It's not debatable, Aiyuk is 100% their WR1, and you don't choose your WR2 over your WR1 all things even. If Deebo is the significantly cheaper option, then that's a reason, but not "versatility".

I agree Debo will come cheaper than Aiyuk and that’s one of the reasons I think SF if they have to choose, will keep Debo.

I think this is a good discussion, but it’s a little unclear what we’re debating.

I think there’s a general consensus. Debo is more important.

I think there’s a general consensus Aiyuk is a better WR, but if Debo ever has a season like he has several years ago, that would be a hard argument to sustain.

There are split views on who they would choose to keep if they have to make that choice.

And then there are different perspectives on what the word “value “means. But I think that’s too subjective to really matter.

To me the key issue is, who will they choose if they have to choose. And I think the split views will continue on that. And clearly it’s a very hard choice. Both of them are great players and key components of the San Francisco offense.

[Dunerdr]

I read a few pages from yesterday. I'm with Staylor Aiyuk is more valuable and should be prioritized. I'm surprised there's even an argument for deebo. He's just a high end gadget.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

I read a few pages from yesterday. I'm with Staylor Aiyuk is more valuable and should be prioritized. I'm surprised there's even an argument for deebo. He's just a high end gadget.

This is exactly what people used to say about Hill.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

This is exactly what people used to say about Hill.

But hill became a top end receiver. Deebo never has. He’s still basically who he’s always been. Aiyuk has become what you hope receivers become when you use a high pick on them.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Uh, think you got some of your math and your QB evaluations wrong here.

First of all, pretty much everyone on your list above had significantly more targets than Aiyuk.

In Tyreek's/CeeDee Lamb's/Nacua's/AJ Brown's/Keenan Allen's and J. Chase's cases, they all saw anywhere from 45-75 more targets than Aiyuk last season.

And yet, only five of them had more total receiving yards.

I was aware of that fact when I made my post. Aiyuk has a luxury that none of these other guys have and that’s being the FOURTH option in his own offense. Everyone else you mentioned is the guy in their respective offense. That’s the only reason Aiyuk was able to be so efficient with his targets if we’re being honest.

Only G. Pickens had a higher Y/A.

Only Tyreek and Lamb had more receiving plays over 20 yards. They both had 29, Aiyuk had 28. So big diff there.

Yards per reception is such a volatile, variable stat that I don’t think it matters much. Aiyuk’s YPR last year was more than 3 yards higher than his career average. It’s most likely an extreme statistical outlier and that’ll be proven within the next few years.

And not for nothing, but just exactly how did Nico Collins out-perform Aiyuk? He had nearly 50 fewer yards, a lower Yards per catch average, fewer big plays and fewer 1st downs. Please shed some light on this one.

Nico had 45 fewer yards and 1 more TD in 1 less game.

If you swapped the two, I think Aiyuk would struggle to match his numbers, while Collins would find it easier to do so being on such a star studded offense.

IMO, the season Collins had given the circumstances was more impressive that Aiyuk’s.

And how are you evaluating QBs these days? Case in point, just how on God's green Earth do you put Purdy above Matt Stafford? Purdy above Stroud? I mean, I get Purdy had a really good year statistically (echoes of Alex Smith's 2017 season), but I doubt any scout/GM would say that Purdy was a better QB than Stafford.

That's just silly. And don't give me the "Purdy was statistically better," BS. If that's your premise, then by that reasoning, Purdy is better than Mahomes. Which is just ridiculous. Obviously.

Did I put Purdy above Stafford and Stroud? I don’t remember saying that.

Maybe you’re confused from where I said “despite SOMETIMES having worse QB situations”. I mean, that should speak for itself. Purdy was 100% better last year than Baker, Watson/Flacco, Geno Smith, Derek Carr, Sam Howell, Pickett, etc.

As for this line:




No to DK (didn't outperform Aiyuk in any meaningful way), no to Terry, just lol to Olave and Pickens, Kupp may not ever get to his former HoF self (but I'm a Kupp fan so I'll give you this one) and Godwin?

I like Godwin, but just lol, no. Godwin is average to maybe a bit above average outside; he's a slot receiver. That's where he's always been at his best, where the vast bulk of his production has come from over his entire career, and last season when Canales tried to put him outside the experiment was a near-complete failure by all TB accounts.

In fact, it was during that losing streak TB had mid-season when Canales tried to put Godwin outside. Check his gamelogs, it wasn't great.

And their winning streak to finish the season came at the same time Godwin was put back in the slot.

Anyway, I look forward to reading your counter at this point. Especially about the QBs.

Godwin may have been a stretch. As you can see, I included him at the very end as he is a step below any of the other names I mentioned.

But DK I think is a better, more talented WR than Aiyuk. Stats don’t always tell the whole story.

No to Terry and lol at Olave? Have you watched these dudes play. They’re dawgs. You put any of them on that SF offense with Deebo, CMC and Kittle drawing coverage away and they’d all go crazy.

Originally Posted by Marcellus

This is exactly what people used to say about Hill.

Right. If you think Deebo is just a gadget guy, you don’t really watch the 9ers play.

You can argue that Aiyuk is a better pure WR all day. I don’t necessarily agree with that but I’ll entertain the argument. The issue is, you can’t just hand waive the fact that Deebo is the second most dangerous WR in the NFL with the ball in his hands. That’s part of the package of being an NFL receiver as well and Deebo is a LOT better at it than Aiyuk.

Plus, like others have mentioned, they lost three games in a row without Deebo last year, only scoring 17 PPG during that stretch. I think the proof is in the pudding.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

This is exactly what people used to say about Hill.

Terrible comparison. Like not even remotely close to the same guy.

Tyreek started off as a gadget guy, but he had some WR qualities you either have or don't have and he developed as a route runner.

Tyreek can run routes and separate consistently. Deebo can't. Tyreek is the Dolphins X WR and runs big boy routes. Aiyuk is the 49ers X, while Deebo gets schemed touches and runs mostly short to intermediate routes.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

I read a few pages from yesterday. I'm with Staylor Aiyuk is more valuable and should be prioritized. I'm surprised there's even an argument for deebo. He's just a high end gadget.

Appanrelty many don't understand who the 49ers WR1 is, and that being versatile doesn't make their WR2 more valuable.