San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has been a curious case early in this season. The second-year wideout played only a handful of snaps in the first game, while being targeted only once. In the 49ers' second game, he played more snaps, but was targeted only twice. He caught one of those passes for a short gain.
Add Hall of Famer Steve Young to the list of people wondering what is going on with the young wide receiver. Young didn't hold back in speaking of head coach Kyle Shanahan's usage of Aiyuk when the former 49ers quarterback joined KNBR Radio on Wednesday.
"He's a tremendous weapon with the speed, he's shown such great things," Young said on the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks Show. "So what is going on? Why can't we know? I want to know. I want to know what's happening."
It's a question 49ers fans and media have been asking for two weeks. Much has been speculated, but it appears Aiyuk just hasn't lived up to the coaching staff's expectations since training camp. He dropped multiple passes in the preseason, and seems to have been outplayed by other receivers, namely Trent Sherfield.
There have been many who have suggested that Shanahan is trying to make a point, that he's trying to teach the young player that he has to work for everything he gets. When asked if Aiyuk has fallen out of favor, or is in the dog house, Shanahan made sure to squelch those rumors, saying, "No. It's not a dog house. It's a pretty simple thing. Trent Sherfield has played at a very high level."
Whatever the reason for Aiyuk's lack of targets through the first two games, Young suggested, "You can make your statement to someone in a quarter or half, put him on ice, let him know that it doesn't work and let them respond. This feels like, what are we doing?"
Young continued, "They're obviously not going to answer my question, because people have asked it 1,000 times, but there's no question that Brandon Aiyuk is a big part of any chance they have to get to the Super Bowl."
The 49ers host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. We will see how the Aiyuk saga plays out.
