Kyle Shanahan is tough on his wide receivers. That probably comes from the San Francisco 49ers head coach once playing the position himself. While he expects a lot from his players, he is known to be especially demanding of his wideouts. That can be difficult for a young player adapting to the demands of the NFL.
That was probably the case for Brandon Aiyuk, who enjoyed some early success during his rookie season. Perhaps thinking he had already arrived, the receiver seemingly entered Shanahan's dog house during his second offseason. Aiyuk had just 96 receiving yards through his first six games in 2021 but finished the season strong, ending up with 826 yards and five receiving touchdowns.
Aiyuk really took off last season, hauling in 78 receptions for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns—all career highs. Now entering his fourth season, the receiver has high expectations for himself.
"I'm about to take off," Aiyuk declared in May. "... We all know it's football. Nothing's ever guaranteed, but just getting a better understanding for my life as a person, and then as a football player, kind of putting those things together and then just looking to get better."
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Shanahan is proud of Aiyuk's growth and can't wait to see what the 25-year-old does on the football field this season.
"I think Aiyuk really got over the hump going into his third year," Shanahan said Friday on KNBR. "His first year was COVID, which was a joke for everybody, and I think it was really unfortunate to the rookies because just how it was for us, not having an offseason, living in the hotel in Arizona, our team going through all the stuff we did.
"I don't think he got a very good example of the NFL, and I think that really hurt him and how he worked going into the next year. Not that he's not a worker. He just didn't understand it well. And he wasn't quite prepared for the second year. And that was well documented.
"And he caught on strong halfway through that year, and he learned, and he worked so hard last year going into the season. And that's why I thought he was so much better last year and ended up [reaching] 1,000 yards in that last game, and got rewarded for that because he was becoming the player that he was capable of.
"And nothing's changed. He didn't look into this year and say, 'All right, now I've arrived.' He looked into this year and tried to get better from last year, and he has. And when you work that way, and you come to phase one and phase two like that, usually you get better in OTAs. When you work that way, when you're gone for 40 days, then usually you come back to training camp and get better."
Aiyuk's teammates believe the receiver has been one of the best players on the practice field this offseason. One 49ers defender loves going against Aiyuk in practice, knowing that it will be a challenge.
"He's ballin' right now, but I look forward to getting out there and competing against him when I get back, a couple of one-on-ones," cornerback Charvarius Ward recently said. "We're going to make each other better. So he's definitely ballin' right now."
Another teammate has noticed Aiyuk's improved confidence, not just on the field, but off it too.
"It's just walking around the locker room, and his interactions with everybody, and just how he speaks to players, to coaches," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. "He's a confident veteran now, that knows he can accomplish big things out there, and that's awesome to see."
The 49ers have been so impressed with Aiyuk that the team exercised its fifth-year option on the player, ensuring they hold onto his rights through the 2024 season. Of course, the two sides will probably try to work out a long-term deal before then, especially if Aiyuk has the type of season he expects.
Shanahan added, "Ayuk is a first-round draft pick, a first-round talent, and he's one of our hardest workers on the team right now, and that's why I think he's playing like one of our better players."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
