San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has 17 catches for 237 yards and a touchdown through five games. That puts him on pace for 806 receiving yards through 17 games, which would fall short of his 2021 total and career-high of 826 receiving yards.
Fans and the media expected a breakout season from the third-year wideout. After all, everyone raved about Aiyuk's training camp, including his defensive teammates, who found it challenging to cover the receiver.
"I feel like he's having the best camp out of everybody on the team, offense and defense," safety Jimmie Ward said in August.
The high expectations may have led to disappointment from those expecting a big season out of Aiyuk. While the statistics might not be there for fantasy football team owners, head coach Kyle Shanahan has been pleased with the receiver's play.
"Everyone expects numbers based off of guys playing well, and it just doesn't always work that way," Shanahan said before Wednesday's practice. "B.A. has been playing really good. I thought he had his best game versus Carolina; the second-best game the week before. But the ball doesn't always go that way.
"I mean, didn't get [wide receiver] Deebo [Samuel] that much, didn't get B.A. that much. I think we ran it 30 times. [Tight end] George [Kittle] got a little bit. But his times will come. When we've come to B.A., he's done a hell of a job.
"He had some opportunities last week that we just didn't get it to him on, which would have helped his stats and helped perception. But that's all it is to me, is really perception. B.A.'s playing his ass off."
Translation: Shanahan doesn't care about your fantasy football team. Nor should he. Fans will just have to deal with that. Shanahan doesn't base his evaluations of players on statistics. Instead, he watches what they do in each play. The coach feels Aiyuk has been performing well with everything he is asked to do.
This week, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo discussed the uniqueness of Shanahan's offense and how it doesn't mean individuals consistently put up good numbers.
"Our offense is cool because not every week, not every guy is going to have five catches, 100 yards," Garoppolo said. "One week, this guy's going to have it, and the next week, the next guy's going to have it. When you've got skill guys who are committed to that and committed to that goal, and really are all just playing for each other, that's what makes a good team. That's what we've got."