49ers’ rookies Aiyuk and Kinlaw take star turns in loss to the New Orleans Saints

On the night of the NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers held the 13th and 31st overall selections. It was unclear what the team would do with those picks to address the glaring need of their two key offseason losses — wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and All-Pro defensive lineman DeForest Buckner.

The 49ers traded Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts for the 13th pick. On draft night, the 49ers swapped picks with the Tampa Bay, which allowed the Bucs to draft offensive tackle Tristian Wirfs and the 49ers to take Javon Kinlaw one pick later. The 49ers used the extra pick acquired in the trade with Tampa Bay to move up to the 25th overall pick and draft Brandon Aiyuk.

On Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, Kinlaw had the best game of his professional career. He recorded 1.5 sacks and had a pass breakup in the 27-13 loss on the road. Aiyuk also showed promise, catching seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown.

“I feel like all season the plays have been there,” Kinlaw said. “I feel like everything was firing today and made plays when it counted. Just going to try and keep it rolling.”

Kinlaw added on his first career sack, “I was just rushing where I could see the quarterback. I was getting held a little bit. He was trying to pull me to the ground. I just came around the corner and tried to finish the play.”

Aiyuk was drafted to replace Sanders, and through the eight games he has played this season he has lived up to the hype. Aiyuk missed the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals with a hamstring injury and missed last week’s game against the Green Bay Packers because he was added to the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list as a close contact to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who had a positive COVID-19 test.

Aiyuk had a season-high in targets with 14 Sunday. He has gone over 70 yards four times this season and has scored in all but three games.

“Brandon is dynamic,” 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens said. “I feel like he can win really on any route... And that’s why I love going to him and love playing with him. He’s a really good receiver. And I think that’s the word I would use, dynamic.”

There’s no question Aiyuk is dynamic. When the 49ers drafted Aiyuk, they hoped to use him similar to how they used Deebo Samuel last season. In Samuel’s first career eight games, he had 30 catches for 339 yards and two touchdowns. Through eight career games, Aiyuk has 35 passes for 446 yards and has five touchdowns.

As the season went on last year, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan started to incorporate Samuel into the game plan more and used him as a gadget guy. If there’s some optimism for 49ers fans during this injury-riddled season, it is that Aiyuk has star potential and Kinlaw is showing promise.

This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 7:17 AM.