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With the 25th pick in the NFL Draft, the San Francisco selected wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk out of Arizona State. Find Aiyuk's 2020 Fantasy outlook below:
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 206
Age: 22.1
Dynasty Ranking: 2.03 (WR9)
Redraft Ranking: WR60
Receiving: 43 catches for 559 yards and 4 touchdowns
Among a wide receiver class loaded with explosive athletes, Brandon Aiyuk's explosiveness still stands out. He has a 92nd percentile burst score thanks to the 40-inch vertical and 128-inch broad jump, and it shows on the field. That burst helps Aiyuk play much faster than his 4.5 40-time would suggest.
Aiyuk transferred to Arizona State after two years of junior college, and he didn't contribute much in his first year with the Sun Devils. Aiyuk erupted in his senior season, though, catching 65 passes for 1,192 yards (18.3 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns.
In spite of excellent leaping ability, Aiyuk struggled at the point of catch while at Arizona State. He has the agility and explosiveness to put together deadly double moves to create separation and is difficult to bring down once the ball is in his hands.
Fortunately for him, he landed in a situation where he can catch passes from one of the NFL's most accurate passers. Jimmy Garoppolo ranked fifth in 'on target' passes in 2019 and was significantly above the league average in terms of accuracy when making all types of throws except for throws into tight coverage. It seems the Niners have done their homework and decided to pair a receiver with the same strengths and weaknesses as their Franchise QB.
That's the good news. The bad news is that San Francisco ranked second-to-last in rush-to-pass ratio in 2019 and already has an established number one option in George Kittle. Aiyuk's best chance for targets is to overtake late-season breakout Deebo Samuel, which seems unlikely to happen as a rookie. As such, I'm not expecting much from Aiyuk in his first season. The dynasty value is decent, but strong landing spots for receivers such as Laviska Shenault Jr., Tee Higgins, and Denzel Mims could keep Aiyuk outside of the first round of dynasty rookie drafts.
So which players are poised for breakouts, which sleepers do you need to jump on, and which busts should you avoid at all costs in your Fantasy football league? Join SportsLine now to get early 2020 Fantasy football rankings, plus see which WR is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
