Aiyuk-en! (PT 3)

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!! This is the 3rd installment of the breakdown. Let's dive in.

Aiyuk is very good at getting DB's to overcommit. Watch him get the corner turned all the way around here, because he lured him into a false sense of security. The DB is thinking he's made his break and he's looing for the ball, but Brandon plants and breaks it to the outside. A little more anticipation on this throw and it's a big gain for the offense.

More versatility. Here he is from the slot. Fakes like he's breaking outside and the sudden movement of his hips has the defender lunging that way. He turns back inside and he's wide open for the layup. Nasty route. With Shanahan and Welker's coaching, this kid is gonna be very good.

Aiyuk is so sudden with his hips, it's practically two right angles here and he's gone. He accelerates quickly out of his breaks to get up to top speed fast. This play is about nine seconds long. He begins deceptively slow, mixing up his speeds. Then he runs from the numbers to the middle of the field, and caps it with a 40 yard dash. He does all of that in nine seconds. That's impressive.

Brandon works hard to get open. It's not often that he gets pushed around, but when teams do play him physically he fights through it and still produces. Good jam at the line. Aiyuk doesn't let it phase him. He works his way across the field and gets himself into an open space in the coverage. His quarterback finds him for the nice gain.

Working across the middle of the field again. If this ball comes out quicker, he might take it upfield and score. The ball comes out late and he's thinking of getting upfield before he secures it. He's ultimately unable to hang on, but with a QB like Jimmy who can throw with anticipation and a quick release it could unlock a part of Aiyuk's game that we've only seen flashes of until now.

His plant foot is just plain deadly in the open field. One on one in space, defenders look like their shoes are tied together trying to stay with him. Watch this violent cut:

The number one thing we are getting in Aiyuk is a playmaker. The team can also use him as a return man. He's a threat to score from anywhere on the field, anytime he touches the ball. He has everything it takes to become a superstar in the league. We believe he was drafted to be that. Our number one wide receiver, on an already very good offense. Fans were clamoring for Odell, well, we got our own version of Odell, and this one only hates kicking nets because he wants to score touchdowns ;)

It's been a while since the Red & Gold have sported a pair of starting receivers as good as they have now, and the depth they've created is incredible. We should be able to field a very good stable of wide receivers this year. There's some difficult decisions to be made before the start of the season, and that is a good thing for the offense. One thing is for sure, we'll be shouting Aiyuken! on Brandon's big plays. We hope you'll join us.