Brandon Aiyuk's performance since signing his four-year, $120 million contract extension has been underwhelming. The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver has managed just 11 catches for 119 yards and no touchdowns through three games. In contrast, Jauan Jennings, the team's third receiver on the depth chart, stepped up in place of the injured Deebo Samuel with a standout performance—hauling in 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday's game alone.
Respected NFL analyst Brian Baldinger joined Bay Area radio station KNBR on Tuesday morning to discuss Aiyuk's struggles this season.
"He looks pedestrian, and he's playing like he's pedestrian," Baldinger said. "You don't see the moves to separate. He just doesn't seem like the same person. He doesn't have any sort of swag about him at all right now. He just seems like a guy out there.
"Now, is that training camp? Is that it? Probably. It probably is a big chunk of it. No offseason, no training camp, no preseason. And then, just go and hit the ground running."
Aiyuk didn't practice with his teammates until the week leading to the start of the regular season, missing all of training camp and the preseason while locked in a contract standoff with the 49ers.
"And maybe it's going to take a while," Baldinger added. "Three years ago, when he was in that proverbial doghouse to start the season, he dug himself out. I'm not saying he's in a doghouse. He's not. But maybe it's just going to take time for him to find that rhythm back into this offense right now because he's not really heavily involved right now. And he doesn't play like he should be."
Baldinger questioned whether the right 49ers receiver is earning the big paychecks. After all, Jennings looked more like the team's top wideout on Sunday.
"I remember, years ago, talking to Jimmy [Garoppolo] about Jauan Jennings," Baldinger recalled. "I'm like, 'What does he do? What's he do well?' When he was just young and starting, he goes, 'Well, he's not fast, he's not too quick, but he gets open. He knows how to get open.' And boy, did he know how to get open the other day. Like, he was just a dominant, fierce dog out there all game long."
Baldinger didn't limit his praise to Jennings. He also had high marks for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who many wondered if he could thrive without his star teammates—Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, and George Kittle—who were all sidelined against the Rams.
"They wanted to see what would Brock Purdy look like without Kittle and without Deebo and without McCaffrey," Baldinger said. "And he was phenomenal. It was their best offensive day. They put up 425 yards of offense. People talk about the Ronnie Bell drop. It's a drop. It's a great throw."
Baldinger concluded, "Brock was unbelievable. He saw the field, he scrambled, he moved. He had them in position to win that game. I thought he was sensational."
You can listen to Baldinger's entire interview below.
