Well, first and foremost I guess is the fact that Deebo manned the position last year and excelled. The receiver that needs replacing is Bourne/Pettis and they manned the z spot, so my guess is that is where Aiyuk will initially be focused. Given that he’s coming in on a short camp and likely a shortened preseason, it makes more sense to me that Aiyuk would be focused on one spot rather than all over to start in order to get him ready to contribute faster.Chwf3rd wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 11:12 amNot sure why you're so confident that Deebo is is the X receiver and de facto #1 target - Shanahan literally said that Aiyuk can play anywhere and nothing on film demonstrates that Deebo is better situation for that role.ericanadian wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 5:32 pmAnd what does that mean? I saw this a lot with people telling me that OJ Howard was going to overcome Arians complete lack of use of the TE slot last year. If Shanahan puts Aiyuk in as the x receiver, who does he put in as the z receiver? He could shift Deebo over to the slot I guess and maybe Hurd or Bourne could man the z, but I think it’s hard to argue that this is the best use of the talent available. Bourne is mediocre and they have Taylor to man the slot if he can stay healthy and Gabriel is around if he can’t.
I'm a huge fan of both Deebo and Aiyuk. The dream is that SF becomes more pass heavy with all these weapons and Deebo, Aiyuk, and Kittle can all eat. If Shanahan revers back to his old schemes which heavily targeted 1 WR - i think it's fair to say that we have no idea whether its Deebo or Aiyuk..
I’m also not all that impressed with Aiyuk as a receiver. His tape vs Michigan State was basically him getting little separation, catching bubble screens and one big pass at the end because the cornerback stumbled covering him. I know he lit up Oregon, but it was mostly two passes where he just ran by the CB for big gains. That won’t happen often in the NFL for a guy with 4.5 wheels. He was completely shut down against Utah. After that, he lit up Oregon State, Kent State & Washington State who were all awful defenses. The fact that he was a senior breakout is also a red flag for me. You can feel free to bet on Aiyuk against Deebo. I just don’t see it.
