Shanahan: I believe in Brandon Aiyuk

Oct 29, 2021

In his weekly segment on KNBR, 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan addressed WR Brandon Aiyuk and how his season has gone:

"I do think he's reaching strides. I do think he's getting better. You're very rarely going to hear me say that someone's just arrived and reached that level...Brandon had a real good rookie year. But [it was] something that I thought he still needed to improve on coming back and like a lot of guys have done... some guys have a little bit of a sophomore slump."

"BA's got a lot of talent. He's made of the right stuff, I do believe in him and I believe he'll get back to where we need him to be."

Fantasy Impact:

Shanahan's answer about Aiyuk has shown in Aiyuk's role on the field. As long as Aiyuk continues to accept Shanahan's challenge of improving, he will be worth adding in a trade for your fantasy team. Aiyuk's success also makes the 49ers offense better.

today

Cowboys coaches "not thrilled" with RB Jaydon Blue ahead of training camp

Marcus Mosher

2 hours ago

[Glenn] Smith said that coaches with the Cowboys have expressed that Blue is “borderline lazy” and that the team is not thrilled with his work habits. That isn’t a great sign for a fifth-round pick who is not only trying to earn a role on the offense, but also make the roster.

Blue was a part of OTAs and rookie minicamp, but there haven’t been any reports of him working with the first team yet. And this could explain why.

Related Players: Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Phil Mafah

Fantasy Impact:

Mosher later reiterates that Blue could legitimately be fighting for a roster spot here, so the news really couldn't be much worse for the rookie. If Blue can't deliver an impact, we have even more questions for a Cowboys backfield that already looked like one of the weakest in the league. Williams and Sanders have been woefully inefficient over the last couple of seasons, and Mafah was himself a seventh-round selection hoping to lock in a roster spot. We currently have Williams ranked as a mid-tier RB3, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to sniff around on Mafah in Dynasty leagues, where he could be on waiver wires, depending on roster sizes.

yesterday

Chargers rooke WR Tre Harris' mini-holdout ends

Ian Rapoport

yesterday · 4:28 PM EDT

Holdout over: Tre Harris has now agreed to terms and will sign his rookie contract, sources say.

Related Players: Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Jalen Reagor, KeAndre Lamber-Smith, Derius Davis

Fantasy Impact:

That lasted all of five days, and comes on the heels of Mike Williams' retirement earlier today. Harris will now use training camp to attempt to climb his way to the top of the depth chart and work as Justin Herbert's main outside option.

Chargers WR Mike Williams set to retire

Adam Schefter

yesterday · 2:00 PM EDT

Sources: Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams’ agent Tory Dandy informed the team last night that, after eight seasons, his client is retiring from the NFL. Williams walks away from the game at age 30.

Fantasy Impact:

This comes as quite a shock, but the veteran was set to hit PUP heading into training camp, and either the injury was more severe than we thought or Williams didn't want to deal with another stint on the sidelines after missing so much of 2023 with a torn ACL. Tre Harris is still unsigned as of this news, which could put Quentin Johnston back in line to operate as the main WR2 once again. It's hard to see McConkey getting any more of a target share after his massive rookie output, but that could very well be the case.