Brandon Aiyuk's rise has been more impressive because the leap has been so substantial. He was poised to take a step in Year 3 after a strong finish to 2021, but he’s been pretty easily San Francisco’s best player in camp behind Nick Bosa. The third-year WR is dominating in one-on-one drills and became the favorite target of quarterback Trey Lance in team drills. There’s a tenacity Aiyuk entered camp with that also stands out. He went toe-to-toe with linebacker Fred Warner during the first week pads were on after Warner leveled Aiyuk’s fellow WR Marcus Johnson and sent him to concussion protocol.
This could be notable in the fantasy world as there are certainly other storylines in San Francisco, like Lance, Deebo Samuel or the run game. The story said Aiyuk has carried his aggression into his pass-catching by affecting the defense at every level. He’s consistently either getting wide open or making contested catches down the field and in the red zone. Expectations were high for Aiyuk when the 49ers took him in the first round of the 2020 draft, and this year’s camp indicates he’s ready to perhaps surpass those already lofty projections, the story went on to say.