Brandon Aiyuk is a 49er! Pick #25, 2020 NFL Draft

Originally posted by Waterbear:

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by SanFranFanfrmVa:
To me there's a Grand Canyon hole between Javon Kinlaw and the next group of defensive tackles. There's little to no difference in Lamb and Aiyuk. Other then height Aiyuk beats Lamb in every measurable. The 40 time is easily explainable with the core muscle injury. Take Aiyuk and put him in Oklahoma's offense and take Lamb and put him Arizona St offense and I guarantee you that scouts would have Aiyuk ranked about Lamb come draft time.

You're probably right. WRs and QBs are really dependent on each other and both can have inflated or diminished numbers depending on what system their college ran.

I was big on Aiyuk before the draft but I still think Lamb was the better overall player.

I just think it's so funny how Ruggs, Jeudy, Lamb, and Jefferson all had QB's drafted high and no one cared to factor that in.

If Ruggs or Jeudy was at Arizona State, I guarantee you people would think they are 2nd round picks because the draft experts wouldn't be as familiar with them.

Not at all, if Ruggs or Jeudy went to North Dakota St. I would've picked them at #13. Even Chris Simms who has been right on both of Shahana's drafts (Thomas and McGlinchey) thought Ruggs was going to be the pick. Ruggs is just that good, you can't teach speed and he's a pretty solid route runner too.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Not at all, if Ruggs or Jeudy went to North Dakota St. I would've picked them at #13. Even Chris Simms who has been right on both of Shahana's drafts (Thomas and McGlinchey) thought Ruggs was going to be the pick. Ruggs is just that good, you can't teach speed and he's a pretty solid route runner too.

You never know. Remember a few years back when Crabtree and DHB were drafted in the first 10 picks. Fast forward they were far from the best WR in that class. Speaking more about crabs since it was a raider wth pick

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by SanFranFanfrmVa:
To me there's a Grand Canyon hole between Javon Kinlaw and the next group of defensive tackles. There's little to no difference in Lamb and Aiyuk. Other then height Aiyuk beats Lamb in every measurable. The 40 time is easily explainable with the core muscle injury. Take Aiyuk and put him in Oklahoma's offense and take Lamb and put him Arizona St offense and I guarantee you that scouts would have Aiyuk ranked about Lamb come draft time.

You're probably right. WRs and QBs are really dependent on each other and both can have inflated or diminished numbers depending on what system their college ran.

I was big on Aiyuk before the draft but I still think Lamb was the better overall player.

I just think it's so funny how Ruggs, Jeudy, Lamb, and Jefferson all had QB's drafted high and no one cared to factor that in.

If Ruggs or Jeudy was at Arizona State, I guarantee you people would think they are 2nd round picks because the draft experts wouldn't be as familiar with them.

Not at all, if Ruggs or Jeudy went to North Dakota St. I would've picked them at #13. Even Chris Simms who has been right on both of Shahana's drafts (Thomas and McGlinchey) thought Ruggs was going to be the pick. Ruggs is just that good, you can't teach speed and he's a pretty solid route runner too.

Did he? I know he said he purposeful left of Aiyuk off his rankings so as not to screw Kyle but who knows if that's true since he did bring up McGlinchey before the draft in 18. He also had Ruggs #3 WR behind Lamb and Jefferson(Hamler/Higgins were his other top 5)

Originally posted by genus49:
Did he? I know he said he purposeful left of Aiyuk off his rankings so as not to screw Kyle but who knows if that's true since he did bring up McGlinchey before the draft in 18. He also had Ruggs #3 WR behind Lamb and Jefferson(Hamler/Higgins were his other top 5)

FWIW,...draft rankings and predictions (i.e., mocks) are 2 completely different realms.

He left Kyle off of his mocks to the 49ers is what he said or meant, I'm sure. This in no way changes whom he thinks are the top ranked WRs (in order) for this class.

Originally posted by genus49:
Did he? I know he said he purposeful left of Aiyuk off his rankings so as not to screw Kyle but who knows if that's true since he did bring up McGlinchey before the draft in 18. He also had Ruggs #3 WR behind Lamb and Jefferson(Hamler/Higgins were his other top 5)

Yeah, Simms knew Aiyuk was Kyle's guy. This time Kyle made it a point for him to stfu.

It's pretty clear to me Kyle and Lynch thought Kinlaw was the better value than Aiyuk at 13/14. The mystery to me is what they thought of Ruggs. It's possible he was their #1 choice but got snagged and they don't want to admit it because of...Raiders? It's just odd to me they have said nothing about Ruggs, only saying they liked CeeDee. With Jeudy we can infer he wasn't higher than Kinlaw since they passed a chance to take him at 13/14.

It would be cool if they made their board available after the draft.

We can speculate all day but it doesn't really matter. I'm happy the way the draft turned out and I won't be surprised if Aiyuk has as good or better year than Jeudy, Ruggs or Lamb. It really comes down to how these guys are used and how good the passing game is. Good QB+good play calling and good pass blocking will usually result in good numbers for the receivers unless they really suck. None of these guys suck so any one or all of them are more than capable of having a good year. Each of them has something to offer that the other guys may not have but Aiyuk has a nice balance of speed and long arms. Great with the ball after he catches it and can play outside the numbers if needed.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by SanFranFanfrmVa:
To me there's a Grand Canyon hole between Javon Kinlaw and the next group of defensive tackles. There's little to no difference in Lamb and Aiyuk. Other then height Aiyuk beats Lamb in every measurable. The 40 time is easily explainable with the core muscle injury. Take Aiyuk and put him in Oklahoma's offense and take Lamb and put him Arizona St offense and I guarantee you that scouts would have Aiyuk ranked about Lamb come draft time.

You're probably right. WRs and QBs are really dependent on each other and both can have inflated or diminished numbers depending on what system their college ran.

I was big on Aiyuk before the draft but I still think Lamb was the better overall player.

I just think it's so funny how Ruggs, Jeudy, Lamb, and Jefferson all had QB's drafted high and no one cared to factor that in.

If Ruggs or Jeudy was at Arizona State, I guarantee you people would think they are 2nd round picks because the draft experts wouldn't be as familiar with them.

Not at all, if Ruggs or Jeudy went to North Dakota St. I would've picked them at #13. Even Chris Simms who has been right on both of Shahana's drafts (Thomas and McGlinchey) thought Ruggs was going to be the pick. Ruggs is just that good, you can't teach speed and he's a pretty solid route runner too.

The issue is the pro system they play in at Alabama that will help their transition and the fact they wouldn't be the same player or stats,

In that sense, i'm not saying their overall ranking within the class isn't justified because it is. They are safer prospects because of the system they played in.

But you can't argue that playing at Alabama, LSU, and Oklahoma with the top QB prospects didn't sway everyone's WR rankings in their favor.



Simms said here that Kyle said he 100% considered Aiyuk at 13. Where did he say the same thing about Ruggs?

Originally posted by Waterbear:
The issue is the pro system they play in at Alabama that will help their transition and the fact they wouldn't be the same player or stats,

In that sense, i'm not saying their overall ranking within the class isn't justified because it is. They are safer prospects because of the system they played in.

But you can't argue that playing at Alabama, LSU, and Oklahoma with the top QB prospects didn't sway everyone's WR rankings in their favor.



Simms said here that Kyle said he 100% considered Aiyuk at 13. Where did he say the same thing about Ruggs?

More teams are starting to move away from the traditional 'pro system' because so many of the QBs and linemen don't play that way in college. It really makes it hard to take a guy and then try and make him play a different way so they are starting to adapt now in the NFL. The Ravens and Cards both have mobile QBs that can gain as much on the ground as the RBs. They don't seem to fear the injuries because of the rule changes. The game is always evolving and I could see a brilliant offensive mind like Kyle having a field day with a QB that could hurt you with his legs as well as his arm.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

The issue is the pro system they play in at Alabama that will help their transition and the fact they wouldn't be the same player or stats,

In that sense, i'm not saying their overall ranking within the class isn't justified because it is. They are safer prospects because of the system they played in.

But you can't argue that playing at Alabama, LSU, and Oklahoma with the top QB prospects didn't sway everyone's WR rankings in their favor.



Simms said here that Kyle said he 100% considered Aiyuk at 13. Where did he say the same thing about Ruggs?

More teams are starting to move away from the traditional 'pro system' because so many of the QBs and linemen don't play that way in college. It really makes it hard to take a guy and then try and make him play a different way so they are starting to adapt now in the NFL. The Ravens and Cards both have mobile QBs that can gain as much on the ground as the RBs. They don't seem to fear the injuries because of the rule changes. The game is always evolving and I could see a brilliant offensive mind like Kyle having a field day with a QB that could hurt you with his legs as well as his arm.

Changes to the league rules specifically around pass interference has also had an impact on how offenses are built. The league has given an advantage in receivers and it's opened up a lot of passing opportunities where previously there wouldn't be. Defenses are adapting now by favouring linebackers who can cover receivers downfield (Simmons) over classic run stuffers. One really interesting matchup I'm dying to see this season is Simmons on Kittle because you know that's why Arizona drafted him.

As for Aiyuk, we don't know how he'll do in a pro offense like Shanahan's and there are questions about how much press coverage Brandon's faced, but Shanahan has been pretty good at spotting talent at WR, way better than Baalke, so I'm optimistic.

Another consideration as far as the Alabama guys is that they played on a loaded roster. Their receivers were Jeudy, Ruggs, and their best one was Smith. I would argue they faced less defensive attention because teams could double team them all. As a result, there's more freedom. I hope we drafted the best one, but my personal favourite was Lamb so I hope I'm wrong.

Originally posted by Jubwub88:

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Not at all, if Ruggs or Jeudy went to North Dakota St. I would've picked them at #13. Even Chris Simms who has been right on both of Shahana's drafts (Thomas and McGlinchey) thought Ruggs was going to be the pick. Ruggs is just that good, you can't teach speed and he's a pretty solid route runner too.

You never know. Remember a few years back when Crabtree and DHB were drafted in the first 10 picks. Fast forward they were far from the best WR in that class. Speaking more about crabs since it was a raider wth pick

People are too hard on Crabtree here. He was drafted early and he wasn't Jerry Rice. So what? He was a decent NFL receiver who is marred by outsized expectations and one fateful play in the NFC Championship when a QB threw it up when clearly he shouldn't have.

Originally posted by bzborow1:

Originally posted by Jubwub88:

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Not at all, if Ruggs or Jeudy went to North Dakota St. I would've picked them at #13. Even Chris Simms who has been right on both of Shahana's drafts (Thomas and McGlinchey) thought Ruggs was going to be the pick. Ruggs is just that good, you can't teach speed and he's a pretty solid route runner too.

You never know. Remember a few years back when Crabtree and DHB were drafted in the first 10 picks. Fast forward they were far from the best WR in that class. Speaking more about crabs since it was a raider wth pick

People are too hard on Crabtree here. He was drafted early and he wasn't Jerry Rice. So what? He was a decent NFL receiver who is marred by outsized expectations and one fateful play in the NFC Championship when a QB threw it up when clearly he shouldn't have.

Crabtree was the best overall WR in that draft. He just had a messed up QB situation.

Most likely , as said by many, the ShaLyn Warriors were very concerned that GB or Miami would take " SkyHook " before our team could at # 31, but Also went with the first decent counter trade offer, ( Minnesota ), from any team in the mid 20s so that they could move up to get him once they decided they had a good shot at landing him via a trade-up....And As many have pointed out, they got the two highest rated players that they felt They had to have. If Aiyuk gets selected for Offensive rookie of the year then our team probably makes and we go deep into the playoffs....we won 15 games last season, it would be hard for ANY team to have that good a win/Loss record the following season.

Originally posted by All22:

Crabtree was the best overall WR in that draft. He just had a messed up QB situation.

Originally posted by highway49:

Most likely , as said by many, the ShaLyn Warriors were very concerned that GB or Miami would take " SkyHook " before our team could at # 31, but Also went with the first decent counter trade offer, ( Minnesota ), from any team in the mid 20s so that they could move up to get him once they decided they had a good shot at landing him via a trade-up....And As many have pointed out, they got the two highest rated players that they felt They had to have. If Aiyuk gets selected for Offensive rookie of the year then our team probably makes and we go deep into the playoffs....we won 15 games last season, it would be hard for ANY team to have that good a win/Loss record the following season.

My money for OROY is Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He couldn't ask for a better situation.

I doubt Aiyuk will get enough touches. I know Kyle wants to pass more and has been known to force-feed guys the ball (see Garcon leading the league in catches or Kittle's record breaking year) but we have a bunch of other guys to throw to as well.