A report surfaced this week that the Jaguars were sniffing around a trade for San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. We have zero confirmation this report is one hundred percent true but what we can do is take the idea and run with it. The hypothetical trade looked like this:
Aiyuk can win at all three levels of the defense. His twitch to shake defenders at the top of his routes is something you can’t teach. He can win with routes, contested catches, or with speed. Bottom line is he gets himself open. , Aiyuk has a 49.7% route win rate, 1.9% drop rate, and an average target separation of 1.78 yards. All three of those numbers are better than Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk posted in those stats last year. Aiyuk’s 57.3% route win rate in zone would pair so well with Christian Kirk’s 48.6% route win rate in man . In my eyes, Aiyuk is a top receiver in this league.
This puzzle is going to look a lot more complicated after the Jaguars have to start paying Lawrence big-time money. Every good team in the league has to let good players walk away or trade them. It’s what happens when you accumulate a ton of talent and can’t afford it all. Yes, this deal would likely mean losing a player like Tyson Campbell, Walker Little, or Andre Cisco after next year.