Will Brandon Aiyuk Play in Week 1? Fantasy Football Injury Update

Will Brandon Aiyuk play for the San Francisco 49ers in 2025? Will Brandon Aiyuk be healthy enough to play in Week 1? John breaks down the latest Brandon Aiyuk injury news for fantasy football.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) tore both his ACL and MCL last season. It wasn't as widely reported, but he also damaged his meniscus substantially. More on that later. It was a brutal blow for a budding NFL star who could have had a monster season if he were simply targeted more.

Aiyuk's best year in the NFL came in 2023, when he caught 75 passes for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns, despite only being targeted 105 times. He played just 14 games that season. A fully healthy year with a target share commensurate with his efficiency and talent could have been incredible.

Yet, that's unlikely to be the case. The severity of Aiyuk's injury is a major problem for fantasy managers, especially those who have him on dynasty rosters, and questions will continue to swirl about his availability. So, will he play in 2025? If so, will he take the field in Week 1? And what's his fantasy football outlook either way? Let's find out!

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Will Brandon Aiyuk Play This Season?

Yes. Though his injury was very severe, he suffered it during a Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It's better for a player's prognosis if they get hurt earlier in the season. By the time the 2025 NFL regular season starts, Aiyuk will have had just over 10 months of recovery time.

This isn't a simple ACL tear, though. Many fantasy managers might look to the general return timetables of players with ACL tears. But multi-ligament, season-ending knee injuries are tougher to come back from than simple, clean ACL ruptures.

#49ers Brandon Aiyuk gave a one week post ACL tear update on his YouTube

Aiyuk said he has walked a little but has been tentative to fully weight bear at this time.

Long road to recovery ahead 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/vDlP3Or6k2

— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) October 28, 2024

Here is the evidence of his meniscus damage. Three major parts of Aiyuk's knee were either ripped or substantially injured. That's not good news for his availability for 2025, and though he'll almost certainly play, when he returns will be a different story. Let's get into that.

Will Brandon Aiyuk Play In Week 1?

No. The 49ers have indicated that it's possible that he could return by Week 6. He has almost no chance of playing in Week 1 without some stunning reversal or revelation that San Francisco was lying. And 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't lie about injuries unless it's to downplay them, so you know this is serious.

Brandon Aiyuk's estimated return will be around Week 6, per Kyle Shanahan.

His Yahoo ADP is 130 👀 pic.twitter.com/AwC2sSuged

— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) August 11, 2025

In the worst-case scenario that doesn't involve a reinjury, Aiyuk should be back on the field by Week 8. The team has its bye week in Week 14, so it's unlikely that he'll be held out until then as a precautionary measure. I'd be a bit more nervous if the bye week were in Week 8.

Still, he'll likely have an extended absence to begin the year. Fantasy managers who drafted him or who are holding bags of him in dynasty leagues should have backup plans ready to go. Perhaps drafting WR Jauan Jennings (calf) is a solid idea, though he's dealing with ailments of his own.

Brandon Aiyuk 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook

How he plays in 2025 will ultimately hinge mostly on how his recovery goes and how extensive the damage to his knee really was. We don't have access to Aiyuk's private medical records with doctors, so we can't know for sure, but having suffered such a devastating injury, it's safe to say he could be a shadow of his former self.

He likely won't be fully recovered until sometime in 2026 as well. Expect worse production than he's had in previous seasons. The aforementioned Jennings, WR Ricky Pearsall, tight end George Kittle, and running back Christian McCaffrey could get better target shares than they would with a healthy Aiyuk, even after No. 11 returns to play.

Week 6 return….Brandon Aiyuk is chopping his feet and running routes off to the side of receivers on the #49ers practice field. #FTTB pic.twitter.com/rhcMLlq8oD

— Matt Lively (@mattblively) August 12, 2025

It's good to see that he's progressing with his recovery, but it's hard to anticipate Aiyuk winning leagues in 2025. Even when he played in 2024, the chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy was just off, and he struggled to put up the production that made him a star in 2023.

Of course, in the late rounds of redraft leagues, he's not a terrible pick to make. You can stash him in your IR spot while he continues to recover and use that slot for another dart throw waiver wire pickup. Aiyuk becoming a decent flex starter for the fantasy football playoffs seems reasonable.

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