Former Arizona State WR Embracing Temporary Role

Former Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has already carved out quite the career as an NFL player for the San Fransisco 49ers after starring in Tempe for two seasons.

The dynamic wideout totaled 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns in the 2019 season at Arizona State en route to becoming a first round pick in 2020.

Aiyuk enjoyed back to back 1,000 yard seasons in Kyle Shanahan's system in 2022 and 2023 before struggling to begin last season.

The 27 year old suffered an untimely end to the season due to a severe knee injury in October of last year - and he continues to work tirelessly to make it back early on in the upcoming season in an effort to lead the 49ers back to the Super Bowl.

NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco got some interesting tidbits when speaking to 49ers wide receiver coach Leonard Hankerson about Aiyuk's new role as a de-facto coach while continuing to rehab from the unfortunate injury.

“Those are things he hasn’t seen from his perspective."

“He’s seen it from a player’s perspective. But sitting in that meeting room now, I’ve said to him, ‘Brandon, you can be in here and be my coach, you can be my assistant.’"

Aiyuk clearly has the chops and moxie to be a coach in the future - the Sun Devil legend has seen it all during his time playing for high-level teams - specifically learning under Shanahan.

“And he loves that because he can coach up the guys and he helps big-time with that. So just mentally, it’s been one of the biggest things for him.”

Aiyuk is the current leader of the wide receiver room in the Bay Area since Deebo Samuel was traded to the Washington Commanders earlier this offseason - he is now expected to mentor the younger players at the position - particularly fellow Arizona State teammate Ricky Pearsall and high-upside fourth round pick Jacob Cowing.

Aiyuk does play for a franchise that many Sun Devil fans have a distaste for, but it remains easy to root for his success despite the fact.

Read more about Aiyuk's potential role in the 49ers upcoming season as he recovers from injury here, and about Pearsall's future as a pro athlete here.

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