The San Francisco 49ers are bursting at the seams with playmakers. The offense is confident that they will give opposing defenses headaches. Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, and George Kittle. Those are just a few of the players who could be poised for big seasons, taking advantage of having so much talent around them.
Players are having fun during training camp, imagining the possibilities once they begin the regular season.
"Today was one of our first move-the-ball periods," Aiyuk said Friday on KNBR. "A couple of play sequences where we're going on drives, and we're out there looking like we got guys all over the place. You've got George making a play on first down, throw the ball to Deebo on second, [Jauan Jennings] in the slot, Christian in the backfield. It really doesn't matter.
"But we're just feeling like as long as we do what we have to do, and ... come with the mindset that we can't be beaten, we feel like nobody can beat us."
Last season, Aiyuk surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career. That may just be the beginning. In May, the wideout declared, "I'm about to take off." That starts with putting the work in during training camp.
How do you measure "taking off?" Are there milestones the receiver hopes to hit in 2023?
"I don't look at it as a certain number or anything like that, but just like a mindset, taking off," Aiyuk said of his expectations. "I don't feel like nobody can guard me. I got to have that mindset every single day and then just let it go where it goes, take it to where it's going to take it.
"But yeah, I do feel like I'm going to take off. I feel like this offense—I was talking to my dad—I feel like I was made to play receiver in this offense right now. That's how [comfortable] I feel within this offense. So just looking to take it wherever I can take it to."
That comfort in head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense has been apparent all offseason. Aiyuk might end up being the MVP of training camp. He is consistently one of the best players on the practice field.
"Just another year in the offense, another offseason in the offense, feeling like I know what they want from me on each and every play and what to do on every play," Aiyuk shared. "You might know what to do but not really know what to do. But now I feel like I know what they want, what I want, and kind of mix those two together, and it's a nice spot."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Aiyuk below.
