The rumble-and-tumble, search-and-destroy, crash-and-bang flair and bravura of Deebo Samuel.
The elegant-striding, wide-reach precision, breakaway finesse and multi-dimensional gracefulness of Brandon Aiyuk.
That’s a diverse and lethal combination punch from San Francisco’s wide receiver position that promises to do a lot of damage throughout the NFL for several years to come.
The original design was for the hits to start coming from this versatile duo of young wideouts from the moment the 49ers began their 2020 journey in September as defending NFC champions.
But like so many things that have gone awry for the 49ers in this crazy season marred by unprecedented injuries and a worldwide pandemic, the developmental blueprint for Aiyuk and Samuel as a complementary tandem to spark San Francisco’s passing game didn’t exactly go according to plan.
“Definitely hasn’t matched up with my expectations for this year,” Aiyuk said during the second week of December. “But everybody knows this year is a lot different than years in the past. Pretty much this whole year, we understand, is not a normal year. The circumstances haven’t been what we want or thought they’d be, so we just continue to roll with what we’re getting.”
And to be sure, what the 49ers haven’t gotten enough of this season is the explosive mixture of Aiyuk and Samuel on the field together.
That’s a concoction the 49ers had heavily anticipated being a regular component of their offense after they traded up in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft to select Aiyuk with the No. 25 overall pick, one year after San Francisco drafted Samuel in the second round with the No. 36 overall pick.
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Esta historia es de la edición January 2021 de Niner Report.
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EIGHT IS ENOUGH
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THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
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Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.