Originally posted by Oregon49erfan:
Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Originally posted by IrishCrnjo:
The 49ers only attempted 25 passes yesterday, and there are only so many balls to go around.
Yeah that's a weak excuse for losing snaps to Trent Sherfield.
Aiyuk played 47% of offensive snaps according to PFF. He ran a route on 37% of snaps. He wasn't targeted at all. He may have loat some snaps but it's not like he wasn't out there. He was just invisible. Not good.
I am not going to read too much into the Aiyuk situation after one game. As pointed out by Oregon49erfan, he was on the field for almost half of the offensive snaps after a preseason hamstring issue. I don't think he is analogous to Dante Pettis, who didn't seem to have an appetite for the physicality of the NFL game. Aiyuk has had some frustrating drops, but when he gets the ball in his hands he seems fearless and determined to make something happen. That alone is different than Pettis, who seemed more willing to make something happen so long as he wasn't going to get smashed in the process. Second, it's not fair to dog Sherfield. The guy played really well in the preseason and ran a beautiful route on his touchdown. One of Kyle Shanahan's strengths as a coach, IMO, is his willingness to let players of lesser pedigree rise up the depth chart if the show it on the field. This culture has to be more respected by the players in the long run because it's fair. Another example was Kendrick Bourne who, if I remember correctly, was an undrafted free agent and became a very good receiver. Lastly, since Aiyuk is very talented, it's not far fetched that there will be games where his presence is more of a decoy that opens up opportunities for other players. One of the big completions yesterday, for example, Aiyuk was running the deeper route that drew the attention of the DBs, leaving the midlevel cross way more open for Sherfield. Aiyuk will have a productive season.
