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Kyle Shanahan loves him some Odell Beckham Jr. So does Brandon Aiyuk. The 49ers looked into acquiring Beckham Jr. last offseason, but the Giants’ reported asking price of the 49ers’ No. 2 overall pick and a future first-round pick was too expensive (especially with Beckham’s contract).
“We definitely looked into the Odell thing,” Shanahan told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “John [Lynch] had been working on that for a few months, trying to see if something could happen. I just didn’t think we had the stuff that [the Giants] wanted. It didn’t work out… He’s always a great player. I don’t know how much I can talk about him because he’s on another team. That would have been a great thing, but that didn’t work out, and it’s nice to have our second pick in the draft still.”
Instead, the Browns acquired Beckham Jr. for a first-round, second-round and safety Jabril Peppers (plus a fifth-round pick, with the Giants getting a fourth-round pick). There is some speculation that Giants general manager Dave Gettleman realized that the 49ers both wouldn’t part with the No. 2 overall pick and believed Beckham Jr. on the 49ers would make it look like the Giants had lost the trade. On the Browns, though… well, we’ve seen how one year of that has gone.
But now the 49ers found themselves a first-round wide receiver for the first time since A.J. Jenkins was drafted in 2012. And Aiyuk says he models himself after Beckham Jr.
“I would say Odell [Beckham Jr.]. I just feel like he was somebody that I watched a lot because we’re similar in builds, similar playing style,” Aiyuk said. “And then, what he does after the catch. I think he was a guy that had a huge upside coming out of college. Not a lot of a lot of numbers, but just a great talent. So, I think just Odell is one of those guys that I watched a lot and somebody that I try to model my game after.”
Shanahan clearly viewed the comparison as valid, saying Thursday night that he viewed Aiyuk as the best wide receiver he evaluated. The 49ers had Aiyuk on their shortlist of six players they wouldn’t have traded down for at pick 13. Javon Kinlaw was on that list, but Lynch said the team believed that the Buccaneers wouldn’t take him, and regardless, had other players available at that spot they would have taken. CeeDee Lamb was the next-highest-rated wide receiver on the 49ers’ list and probably in that six-man group.
What is it that Shanahan loved so much about Aiyuk? Everything: his positional and physical versatility, his ability to run just about every route, his after-catch ability and his mindset, dedicated to being the greatest wide receiver in the league. He said he’s similar to Dante Pettis in the versatility, but made a point to mention Aiyuk’s mindset.
A nice note: Aiyuk’s mom was already a 49ers fan, hence this photo of him in a Niners turtleneck at about age 4.
“My mom’s been a huge 49ers fan her whole life,” Aiyuk said. “So that kind of bled on me a little bit when I was younger.”
The other bit of 49ers history attached to him is the fact that before transferring to Arizona State, Aiyuk started his football career at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, where the 49ers used to host their offseason camp. He said defensive line coach Ted Popson, who played and won a Super Bowl with the 49ers as a tight end in 1994, made him aware of the history.
Aiyuk said he believed he’d be heading to San Francisco when the 49ers traded away the 13th pick, and then knew for sure it would happen when they traded back up to the 25th pick from the 31st overall spot.
“I knew right then and there,” Aiyuk said.
He was also a prolific kick and punt returner at Arizona State, averaging 31.9 yards per kick return, fifth-best in the country, and 16.1 yards per punt return, third-best in the country (also had one TD). While Aiyuk said he didn’t discuss return duties with the 49ers, he expects he’ll be asked to do that (likely, given that the 49ers’ current returner is Richie James Jr.).
Some of the concerns are that Aiyuk has only had one full season as a starter. He acknowledged that, and positioned it as a cause for optimism, saying there’s no ceiling to his potential.
“I was a one year starter, so I feel like for me it’s just going to keep on going up,” Aiyuk said. “I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I can do as a football player and at this position, the receiver position. I only played one year as a full time starter. So, I still have a lot to learn, so I have a lot to grow in my game. I just think that for me, the ceiling is limitless. I don’t think there’s a ceiling to my game.”
