_This is the first installment of our eight-part series “State of the 49ers.” We’ll assess each position group and introduce solutions that could help the team on its Super Bowl hunt — starting with wide receivers and tight ends._
Brandon Aiyuk devastated the 49ers.
There’s no way to sugarcoat the damage caused by the receiver’s 2025 defection from the team, which came just over a year after he signed a multiyear contract worth up to $120 million.
We can quantify the blow in the big picture by looking at the 49ers’ receiving efficiency last season. Remember that the 49ers, in their most successful seasons, featured up to three targets averaging well over 2 yards per route run (YPRR).
The 2025 team came nowhere near that, with tight end George Kittle — who tore his Achilles in the playoffs — being the only target to clear that efficiency threshold. Remember that on the table below blue (above average) is good, and red (below average) is bad.
This is also a data-oriented reflection of the 49ers’ demise at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers couldn’t get open against that vaunted defense — and their struggles in the spacing department trace back to Aiyuk.
Let’s rewind.
The 49ers — after a vexing 2024 negotiation that saw Aiyuk sit for three weeks on the offer he eventually accepted (he missed all of that season’s training camp because of this) — finalized the deal at the peak of their desperation. It happened just about a week before the regular season started, and it required the threat of a trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers — a deal, in hindsight, that the 49ers wish they consummated.
But at the time, when the 49ers were straining to keep their Super Bowl band together for one last dance, coach Kyle Shanahan knew that his team badly needed Aiyuk. He was the 49ers’ best separator — Aiyuk had led the NFL at 18.1 yards per catch in 2023 — and an ace perimeter run blocker who unlocked the team’s run game.
Aiyuk tore knee ligaments in Week 7 of 2024, and the 49ers immediately tumbled. They finished the season ranked No. 32 — dead last — in average separation at the time of catch or incompletion. Their run game also suffered, ranking No. 20 in first-down efficiency — which fed the separation issues, because defenses could more easily gamble against the pass on later downs.
The 49ers knew that do-everything running back Christian McCaffrey’s return from injury in 2025 would alleviate some of the issues of the previous year. They also banked on a second-year jump from receiver Ricky Pearsall, who delivered just that — until he hurt his PCL in Week 4 and lost the ability to run full speed for the rest of the season.
The 49ers’ margin for error was the potential return of Aiyuk. It _had_ to be, simply because they had so recently invested a Brinks truck full of guaranteed money in him.
But just as Aiyuk seemed to be approaching a return from his injury, he disappeared from the facility — and the team is still without firm answers as to why.
“I wish I knew,” GM John Lynch said after the season. “I can’t help you there. Sorry.”
Predictably, the 49ers again finished near the cellar in average separation at the time of catch or incompletion.
The 49ers also sputtered to 3.8 yards per rush, No. 30 in the league and their worst average in Shanahan’s tenure.
The tape verifies that 49ers receivers struggled mightily to deliver the type of perimeter blocking that Shanahan’s outside-zone system demands. The numbers, which suggest that the 49ers’ run game was too dependent on Kittle’s presence to make up for their wideout blocking struggles, corroborate this.
Kittle’s Achilles tear, which might compromise his availability for the start of the 2026 season, should only underscore the 49ers’ need to restock adaptable weapons.
The silver lining for the 49ers is that Aiyuk’s defection, as painful as it was for their 2025 prospects, will actually make it much easier for the team to pivot this offseason. The saga has included [a voiding](https://sfstandard.com/2025/11/21/brandon-aiyuk-49ers-contract-ricky-pearsall/) of Aiyuk’s $27 million in 2026 guarantees, an assurance that effectively held the 49ers hostage until it was undone.
Now the 49ers can shop in earnest for Aiyuk’s replacement.
It’s important to view the process holistically, especially because Shanahan’s offense aggressively incorporates all skill positions into both its passing and rushing attacks. McCaffrey, after all, was the 49ers’ leading receiver by a wide margin in 2025.
A preliminary look at the offseason player acquisition market shows potentially deep rookie receiver and free-agent tight end classes. There also seems to be a shortage of A-list talent set to come onto the free-agent market at receiver. Case in point: The 49ers’ own Jauan Jennings, who managed a below-average clip of 1.35 YPRR in 2025, has been projected to sign for more than $20 million annually this offseason. Translation: Jennings’ time with the 49ers is likely done.
Perhaps the 49ers can ride the waves of supply and demand to restock quarterback Brock Purdy’s weaponry this offseason. That might mean spending money at tight end — Cleveland’s David Njoku and Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts are both scheduled to be free agents — while dipping into the deep draft at wide receiver. Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion looks to have a springy skill set that would fit with Shanahan, and there’s a good chance he’ll be on the board when the 49ers are slated to pick at No. 27.
Tight ends are cheaper than receivers, so there might be prudence in that spending route — especially because Kittle’s uncertain status might force the 49ers to at least sign a short-term veteran replacement. Jake Tonges, a pending restricted free agent, should be back after a breakout 34-catch season to again at least provide depth at the position.
Thinking beyond that: Shanahan has yearned to have two needle-moving options at tight end, and 2025 signee Luke Farrell (11 catches, 85 yards) hasn’t made as big of an impact as the 49ers had hoped. Njoku, Pitts, or even an older veteran — Dallas Goedert, Tyler Higbee, Zach Ertz, and Austin Hooper are all scheduled for free agency — could boost both the pass and run games for the 49ers, even if they team with Tonges first before being eventually paired with Kittle.
None of this would preclude the 49ers from signing a receiver. Green Bay speedster Romeo Doubs, who’s also a pending free agent, might fit well — especially because he’s also a solid run blocker. Perhaps veterans like Mike Evans or Wan’Dale Robinson can be acquired at an efficient rates. But the danger of an inflated receiver free-agent market might require the 49ers to do a large chunk of the work here in the draft.
Efficiency — or more blue in the YPRR table up top — can most easily come with a return of explosiveness. And for that, there are obvious hinge points already on the roster. Pearsall, who averaged 2.29 YPRR (ranking No. 8 of NFL receivers) before tearing his PCL last season, is clearly central to that effort. Health can be wealth. Youngster Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing also have chances to play their way into the 2026 rotation.
But Aiyuk’s departure and Kittle’s injury have combined to create needs that are big enough to necessitate an offseason shopping spree.
Let the arms race begin.