Fantasy Football Player Notes

He made his NFL debut last week, playing 44 snaps and running 25 routes, which was right up there with Bourne for tops among 49ers receivers. He saw three targets, catching two of them for 21 yards, so nothing to write home about. The Giants have still yet to allow a receiver more than 69 yards, and that's despite playing against JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and Allen Robinson. Newly acquired cornerback James Bradberry has played quite well outside of a few pick plays that caught him up. Aiyuk is playing almost all his snaps on the perimeter, which means he'll see Bradberry and Corey Ballentine, as I don't foresee Bradberry shadowing anyone in this game. Ballentine is the one to attack, as he's allowed nearly 10.0 yards per target over his two years in the league, including a touchdown every 10.0 targets. We watched Bears rookie Darnell Mooney just flat out win a one-on-one battle in the end zone with him last week on a broken play. Aiyuk is someone who's trending up and as long as Bradberry doesn't shadow, he could have a fantasy relevant week. We'd ideally see it first, making him a risk/reward WR5 play.

He's the only 49ers receiver who's played more than 55 snaps. He's been on the field for 102-of-123 plays, so he's a full-time player, and he's racked up six catches for 101 yards through two weeks. He's never someone you're excited to play, but with all the injuries adding up, some may be looking at him as a potential floor play. It seems likely that he'll see the most of Giants top cornerback James Bradberry, who's done extremely well in his new uniform. Both Allen Robinson and Diontae Johnson both saw at least nine targets, but neither of them topped 57 yards. Bourne moves back and forth, so it's possible he sees a 50/50 mix of Bradberry and Corey Ballentine, who's been the weakest link to this point. With Brandon Aiyuk moving into a bigger role and now past the first game jitters, my expectations are that he takes over the top receiver play for the 49ers, making Bourne just a WR6.

He played just 13 snaps in his 49ers debut, though he was with the team for just a couple days prior to the game. It would seem that was to ease him in, but we don't know for sure, as Kendrick Bourne, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Taylor all played at least 28 snaps. Until we see him on the field in a full-time capacity, we can't consider him in fantasy.