Aiyuk-en! (PT 1)

Remember Street Fighter? Some of you may be too young to recognize the pun in the title. However, shouting the word HADOUKEN in a room full of people will certainly trigger some nostalgia from anyone old enough to remember the popular video game and it's many sequels from the late 80's and 90's. When we watch Brandon Aiyuk's film, we get excited. We want to shout. Especially because it's easy to envision him doing a lot of the same things on the field for the 49ers. He's going to be a special weapon for them, and much like the world famous fictional character 'RYU' did when he executed his attacks, we will be shouting our war cry along with Shanahan as he unleashes his new beast for the revenge tour. AIYUKEN!! Let's dive in.

Aiyuk is an excellent ball tracker, esepecially on over the shoulder grabs. When the deep ball is in the air, he finds it and runs under it. For all the UNWARRANTED criticism Jimmy G faces, throwing the deep ball is a part of his game in which he clearly excelled, even though he wasn't called on to do it as often as we'd like to see.

As you can see, per Next Gen Stats, Jimmy CAN throw the deep ball. There is no question that adding a player like Aiyuk will give coach the opportunity to draw it up more. Let's take a look at some of these highlight reel type plays from the former Sun Devil.

This touchdown here against Oregon was one of the best plays of his college career. Love the late hands. Good balance and field awareness here on the sideline. This is a tougher catch than it may look like. Excellent grab and run to the end zone.

This touchdown here against Oregon was one of the best plays of his college career. Love the late hands. Good balance and field awareness here on the sideline. This is a tougher catch than it may look like. Excellent grab and run to the end zone.

This was especially impressive, because just the play before the same corner had neutralized him with man coverage. His quarterback Jayden Daniels was looking for him deep, but he was sacked. The very next play on third and long, Brandon burns the same guy and only looks back for the ball. You love to see that kind of dog in a player. To come back even more determined on the next play. Daniels trusted his guy, and Aiyuk rewarded him for it. Jimmy to Aiyuk is gonna be fun!

Aiyuk fakes to the outside here, and gets the defender to overcommit. He burns him, but the QB was unable to get him the ball.

Great move that will be just as effective in the pros. As soon as the defender bit outside and turned his hips, he knew he had it. Defender had no chance. Should have been 6.

Brandon is going to add a consistent vertical threat to the 49ers passing attack. The combination of his speed and ability to track the ball will allow us to push the ball down the field when we need to.

Been showing a lot of deep routes, but Brandon is a versatile WR. He adjusts to the ball in the air very well. This will pair well with Jimmy G's gunslinger mentality. When Garoppolo is in trouble, he now has another guy he can trust to make a play on a ball if he throws it a little wild.

Please check out parts 2 and 3 of the breakdown to get the full picture of what Brandon Aiyuk is gonna do for the 49ers offense!