One of the biggest storylines this offseason in the NFL was the drama that was surrounding 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk and his contract negotiations. Apparently, he was very close to being dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers before San Francisco offered him an ultimatum, which he accepted to stay in the bay area. By his own admission, he was stubborn in this matter and says he could have handled it better.
So after all of that, he is still suiting up in the gold and crimson, and the team is probably breathing a sigh of relief about that right now. Their superstar RB Christian McCaffery is on IR, and WR Deebo Samuel is also sidelined with an injury. Imagine if he did go to Pittsburgh, San Francisco would be in some real trouble when it comes to offensive weapons right now. Luckily, Aiyuk remains with TE George Kittle to give QB Brock Purdy some solid options.
CMC and Samuel are regulars on the injury list, and have a hard time staying healthy. When Samuel is absent specifically, Aiyuk really steps up his game. According to Dwain McFarland at FantasyLife, this is the game to target the receiver for a big outing. “Brandon Aiyuk over the last
three seasons without Deebo Samuel on the field: 29% target share, 45% air yards share, 2.92 yards per route run. That is a high-end WR1, y'all. Aiyuk is going to rock the Rams world,” he wrote on X.
Indeed, Aiyuk has been ultra-productive when his teammate is sidelined with an injury. Los Angeles also offers a defense that just got ripped for 41 points by Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, with rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr. catching four balls for 130 yards and two TDs. It is hard to see them being able to stop Aiyuk this week, who dominates in this spot historically.
Checking in at BetMGM to take a look at where some of his props are lined, they are right about where you would expect them to be. He’s lined as the top receiver in the game at 63.5 for his yardage total, and his over 4.5 receptions is juiced out to -140. He also leads in longest reception, where he is lined at 23.5, with the next highest player at 20.5 in Kittle.
The sportsbooks are already factoring in how big of an impact he will make in this game, but I am not sure they are adjusting quite enough. He could easily blitz the Rams for 100+ yards in this game, and the 49ers are going to be playing angrily after that loss last week to the Minnesota Vikings. Even at the numbers listed, I would take the over on his props. I just don’t know who is going to stop him in L.A.
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