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Read Brandon Aiyuk's fantasy football outlook for Week 3 of the NFL season. Notes, updates, analysis and advice including predictions for his upcoming matchup.
Brandon Aiyuk was seemingly in Kyle Shanahan's doghouse in Week 1, a game in which he played just 47% of the snaps and ran just 15 routes. Shanahan made some comments that he wasn't fully healthy with the preseason hamstring injury, but also spoke about Aiyuk's preparation, and needing to get better. That led to more snaps for Trent Sherfield. No big deal, let's give Aiyuk another chance to prove his worth in Week 2.
Well, in Week 2 vs. the Eagles, he played just 54% of the snaps and ran just 20 routes. While that is some improvement over Week 1, the production (and usage) still wasn't there. In comparison, Deebo Samuel played on 70% of the snaps and ran 22 routes. But it was Samuel that got the targets. He saw eight vs. just two for Aiyuk. It's probably only a matter of time before Aiyuk sees a full complement of snaps, and it could even come as early as Week 3. But even if that's the case, it looks like Jimmy Garoppolo has an eye for Samuel over Aiyuk. That could change, and a different gameplan could favor the Arizona State product, but while Samuel is fully healthy, he looks to be the WR1 in San Francisco.
At the end of the day, this 49ers team is built to run the football. Through two games, they have run the ball 54.1% of the time, only attempting 28 passes per game. Samuel's league-leading 38% target share will decrease, but it's time to lower expectations on Aiyuk so long as both Deebo and George Kittle are on the field making plays for the 49ers. He's not a recommended start in Week 3, or until we see a greater involvement in this offense and some fantasy production.
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