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Is Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, or Ricky Pearsall the WR1 for the 49ers? Who should you draft in 2025 fantasy football drafts? Andrew's expert draft analysis and advice.
Injuries happen. Scan reports across the league and you'll find a dozen or so players on each team sitting out of practice.
Rarely do we see the majority of one position room sidelined. That's the San Francisco 49ers this training camp.
At various points in the preseason, five of the team's top six receivers on the depth chart were injured. The sixth faces a suspension. The fluidity of availability has fantasy managers browsing the practice reports to see who will emerge as Brock Purdy's top wide receiver. That is, if they are healthy.
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Brandon Aiyuk Fantasy Football Outlook
When is Aiyuk returning to the football field? It's one of the biggest questions out of San Francisco's training camp, and one that head coach Kyle Shanahan somewhat answered. You'll see the headlines floating around that he's eyeing a Week 6 return. It could be Week 6. It could be a month later.
"I always see him around week six. Which means that could be week 10 and it means that could be week five."
Kyle Shanahan on the timeline of WR Brandon Aiyuk pic.twitter.com/XjWmIwQA3f
— KNBR (@KNBR) August 11, 2025
San Francisco's WR1 (when healthy) tore his ACL and MCL in Week 7 of last season. His entire 2024 campaign was a forgettable one. After one of the most efficient seasons of all time (more on that in a minute), Aiyuk sought a new contract and sat out of training camp. A boatload of missed practices contributed to a slow start to the season. He was a top 36 wide receiver once -- an eight-catch, 147-yard explosion in Week 5 -- and averaged just 9.7 PPR points per game through six weeks.
Back to Aiyuk's breakout 2023 season. The former first-round pick racked up 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns, but did so on just 105 targets and 75 receptions. That's an unheard-of stat line. Amon-Ra St. Brown had 1,263 yards on 141 targets last season. D.J. Moore tallied 1,364 yards in 2023. It took him 136 targets to get there.
Aiyuk was bound for a regression, probably not quite to the extent we saw in 2024. There's a middle ground, but it's unlikely we'll see it in 2025, either. A knee injury of that severity will take him far longer than Week 6 to return to form.
Jauan Jennings Fantasy Football Outlook
Fifth-year breakouts are a rare occurrence, and one we witnessed from Jennings in 2024. He burst onto the scene in Week 3 with 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns, starting in place of Deebo Samuel Sr. That was the theme of the season. If one of Samuel or Aiyuk (or both) were out, Jennings was, at worst, in the flex conversation.
He finished the season as the WR24 in 15 games on 77 catches for 975 yards and six scores. He totaled 78 catches, 963 yards, and seven touchdowns in the prior four seasons (he did not play a regular-season game during his rookie year in 2020).
Interestingly, the fifth-year breakouts often repeat in their following campaign. In most cases, it involves the wideout switching teams or a player with low draft capital, like Jennings, finally earning their chance.
Year 5 breakout WRs + next-season points per game:
Emmanuel Sanders: 18.8 -> 15.2
Will Fuller: 17.2 -> inj
Doug Baldwin: 16.8 -> 15.6
Golden Tate: 16.2 -> 13.2
Julian Edelman: 15.5 -> 15.9
Mike Williams: 15.3 -> 13.6
Adam Thielen: 15.2 -> 19.2
Christian Kirk: 14.3 -> 12.9
Jauan…— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) June 28, 2025
Jennings seized that opportunity so well that he's demanding a new contract. With Samuel in Washington and Aiyuk possibly opening the season on the PUP list, Jennings wants starting wide receiver money. Jennings at least showed up at camp, unlike another wide receiver holdout. Well, he sort of showed up at camp.
Jennings has been sitting out of practice with a calf injury. 49ers' doctors confirmed the injury is legit, it's something that bothered him throughout the offseason, and it's not contract-related.
Ricky Pearsall Fantasy Football Outlook
Pearsall opened training camp on the PUP list with a hamstring injury. He quickly returned to the field and has been operating as San Francisco's WR1 since then.
The first-round selection of Pearsall in the 2024 NFL Draft raised a few eyebrows at the time, but Aiyuk was in a contract dispute at the time, and Samuel wasn't in the long-term plans. Pearsall opened the season on the NFI list due to a gunshot wound during a botched robbery attempt. He was destined to remain as the WR4 unless there was an injury in front of him.
We watched Pearsall's potential in his four starts (three with Purdy under center). He averaged 5.5 receptions, 80 yards, and scored in three of four games. He boasted a 21% target share and 30% first-read share in San Francisco's final two games. He caught 14 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns to end the season.
Ricky Pearsall completed his first full week of practice with a very active day. He has looked very good -- the best 49ers wide receiver on the field -- in the time he's been out there.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 2, 2025
Right now, it's his WR1 job to lose. If the admittedly small sample size is a sign of things to come, Pearsall is one of the best sleeper picks in football.
Who Should You Draft in Fantasy Football?
At various points throughout the Brock Purdy era, each of the above wide receivers has shown a rapport with the franchise quarterback, to varying degrees. Aiyuk has the longest track record. Jennings has been called upon dating back to the Super Bowl. Pearsall has all of one game as Purdy's guy and the majority of training camp.
And yet, Pearsall is most of the fantasy football community's preferred target because of the tantalizing upside. He's a former first-round pick entering his second season, and his rookie year was largely lost. But Jennings has his truthers as well.
The ambiguity makes Pearsall and Jennings great value picks. They're eighth-round, or lower, selections. Starting rosters are essentially set at that point in the draft. An opportunity to roster the WR1 on San Francisco's high-powered offense, at that point in the draft, is an easy click.
Of course, whichever wide receiver wins the top job is still third in the pecking order behind Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle. Aiyuk and Samuel have had great seasons alongside the star running back and tight end. It's easily repeatable.
The uncertain return for Aiyuk takes him off my personal board. A Week 6 return is only the beginning. It will take several more weeks for him to get back up to speed, if that happens at all this season.
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