Expectations for Brandon Aiyuk in 2025
The 49ers will need him
From a clear-cut WR1 to many uncertainties circulating, Brandon Aiyuk’s reputation has fluctuated quite a bit during his time with the San Francisco 49ers. Now, fresh off a holdout and extension, he’ll have to recover from a major injury and then prove his worth in 2025. His range of outcomes is wide, but once he returns to the field, the 49ers offense is going to have to rely on him to be the receiver they paid. Is that realistic?
Things seemed to be falling in Brandon Aiyuk’s way in 2023, tallying a career-high 1,342 receiving yards on 75 catches and seven trips to the end zone. This ultimately led to a second-team All-Pro selection and put him in prime position for a big payday. Unfortunately for both him and the San Francisco 49ers, that was much easier said than done.
After a grueling off-season of negotiations, tactics, trade rumors, and cryptic posts, Aiyuk put pen to paper on a massive four-year $120 million extension, with $76 million in guarantees. What followed was an unsatisfactory 374-yard performance on 25 catches through week seven in 2024. He then tore his ACL and MCL while making a catch against the Kansas City Chiefs, bringing his bad season to an even worse end.
His recovery has been quiet, but Kyle Shanahan finally gave an update that he expects Aiyuk, among the others returning from an ACL injury, back around week six of the season. He was non-committal about a hard date, suggesting that he could still return earlier or later, but used week six as a baseline. This is more or less along the lines of what we expected considering the time that initial injury occurred.
Upon his return, many speculate what that may look like for the 27-year-old wideout. We have seen many cases where wideouts have torn their ACL, but not many have torn both their ACL and MCL. To evaluate what sort of return we can expect from Aiyuk, I’d like to take a look at Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin, who also tore both his ACL and MCL in 2021. Godwin, a now eight-year veteran in the NFL, suffered his season-ending injury in week 15 of the 2021 season against the New Orleans Saints. After a successful surgery on January 3rd of 2022, Godwin rehabbed and stepped foot onto the field for the Bucs week one matchup against the Dallas Cowboys the very next season. He went on to put up 104 catches and 1,023 yards that season, just 9 months after the grueling injury.
So what does all this mean for what we can expect out of Brandon Aiyuk in 2025? Everyone heals differently, but if we were to compare it to the season we saw from Godwin, it would seem that Aiyuk could in fact be ready to suit up week one. Seeing how he would have 10 months of recovery post-surgery, this does not seem impossible. He may not have significant playing time early, but avoiding the PUP to get some live action isn’t out of the question.
Now when it comes to level of play, Godwin averaged 68.9 yards per game, and saw an uptick in targets as the season progressed. Much like Godwin, Aiyuk may not be the first progression in the passing game as he gets back up to speed with the offense, seeing how the Bucs had Mike Evans as well. The 49ers will be leaning on George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings (pending good health) to begin the season. The 49ers may also look to keep Aiyuk on a snap count while he returns to his former self, limiting his opportunity early in the season. It’s also worth noting that the lack of conditioning and practice may have resulted in his slow start in 2024, before his injury, so with his lack of being able to practice, his productivity may see another slow start in 2025.
These comparisons are based on the fact that Aiyuk is in uniform and available when the 49ers take the field in Seattle week one in a crucial division matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. If he isn’t available, and is placed on the Injured Reserve list (IR), then he would miss the first four games of the season. We wouldn't see him play until the team tees off against another division rival, the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, at the earliest. We hope to see Aiyuk sooner than later, given the situation in the receiver room, but we don’t want to see him rushed into action. This will be an interesting next couple of weeks for the 49ers and Aiyuk.