Smith is also a liability in run blocking. His lack of strength makes him vulnerable to press coverages. Smith’s skinny frame stood out in the SEC, and such physical discrepancies will only be further magnified against NFL defenders. The 175-pound weight that he pairs with said height is. Height is not really a huge concern, at 6-1. The greatest concern surrounding Smith is his size. Even when he can’t necessarily use his physical attributes to create separation, his understanding of routes enables him to get open anyways. Smith’s route-running skills are second to none. He has sure hands and excellent body control, two factors that enable him to excel at making catches in traffic. During his time in Tuscaloosa, Smith played a number of different roles for the Tide. DeVonta Smith is uber-talented and a tremendous playmaker. Add in SF's desire to be a run-first team and two more talented pass catchers ahead of Aiyuk and you have a recipe for disappointment.ĥ/15: Perhaps Deebo is traded, but seems unlikely.Winning the 2020 Heisman Trophy and bringing home a national championship kind of speaks for itself. Smith is likely to see lighter coverage this year, opening other opportunities to shine.Ī young rushing QB is a bad combination for pass catchers. But I think Smith (and Goedert) will likely see a similar target share, with Brown picking up the random targets and earning more as the offense produces more. There are lots of questions on what the target distribution will look like this year with the addition of AJ Brown. Aiyuk could be the biggest benefactor of Lance at QB, he should see more deep passes. Receiver is such a deep position, that is hard to see him as more than a WR3 with Trey Lance having started only 2 games and Deebo Samuel and George Kittle commanding targets, but the upside is there for him to be one of the best bargains in fantasy football.Īiyuk was truly in "the doghouse" for the first half of last season, but it seems as though he has completely removed his head from his backdoor and finished the back-half of the season as the WR14 in PPR. Brown this offseason that puts Smith firmly in the fantasy WR3 tier.Īiyuk has been one of the stars of 49ers training camp and he could be poised for a great year. I don't necessarily believe that Smith's targets per game will increase substantially after the team added A.J. From Week 7 onward, Smith never saw more than six targets in any game. So Smith's WR29 finish and WR42 standing in points per game hardly does the rookie justice while playing in a run-heavy offensive attack. He finished 10th in overall team air yards share and top-20 in PFF receiving grade among WRs with at least 100 targets. If Aiyuk can roll over his second-half production into 2022, he could end up as a smashing fantasy value in a similar way that Deebo Samuel was viewed in 2021.ĭeVonta Smith didn't have the record-breaking rookie seasons like Ja'Marr Chase or Jaylen Waddle, but he was still extremely solid. His yards per route run increased substantially (2.16, 13th) and he averaged 13.1 PPR fantasy points per game as the WR24. Woof.īut give credit to Aiyuk for turning his season around during the second half. He also averaged an abysmal 0.63 yards per route run - a mark that ranked 98th out of 102 qualifying WRs. Through Weeks 1-7, Aiyuk had just one weekly finish inside the top-25. He was hyped up after an impressive rookie campaign, but suffered a hamstring injury during training camp that made him unreliable in the starting offense. Smith was the WR37 last year in receiving yards per game.įantasy managers are still trying to figure out what went wrong with Brandon Aiyuk during the first half of last season. If this happens, Smith's low-end WR3 status from last season could be the floor if he can increase his touchdown output. Brown in town, the Eagles could return to the pass-heavy ways from the beginning of 2021. He surpassed fellow highly touted receivers Elijah Moore (1.75) and Jaylen Waddle (1.75) in this metric. Smith was productive in yards per route run, ranking 30th (1.77) among all wideouts with 50 or more targets and third amongst rookies with 25 or more targets (per PFF). He's an upside WR4 this season.ĭeVonta Smith concluded his rookie campaign as the WR36 in weekly fantasy scoring. Aiyuk's talent is apparent, but he resides on a run-first offense with little touchdown equity (44th in red-zone targets). Aiyuk was the WR21 in fantasy points per game among all wide receivers that started at least three games during that period. Over that stretch, his efficiency was off the charts as he was 13th in yards per route run and the sixth-highest graded wide receiver (minimum 20 targets, per PFF). After escaping the Kyle Shanahan doghouse, Brandon Aiyuk played at least 90% of snaps in every game after Week 9.
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