Brandon Aiyuk


Brandon Aiyuk is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He played college football at Arizona State and was drafted by the 49ers in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early life and high school

Aiyuk grew up in Reno, Nevada and attended Robert McQueen High School. He played wide receiver, defensive back and returned kicks for McQueen and was named first team All-Northern Nevada and honorable mention All-State as a senior.

College career

Aiyuk began his collegiate football career at Sierra College. As a freshman, he caught 29 passes for 573 yards and five touchdowns and was named All-Big 8 Conference. He was named a Junior College All-American in his sophomore season after recording 60 receptions for 960 yards and 14 touchdowns while also returning 11 kickoffs for 418 yards and two touchdowns and 14 punts for 313 yards and a touchdown. He finished his junior college career with 2,499 all-purpose yards and 21 touchdowns. Aiyuk committed to transfer to Arizona State for the final two years of his NCAA eligibility over offers from Colorado State, Kansas, Tennessee and Alabama. He chose Arizona State because it was one of the few schools that recruited him to play wide receiver, instead as only a return specialist or planned to move him to the defensive side of the ball.
In his first year with the Sun Devils, Aiyuk had 33 catches for 474 yards and three touchdowns with an additional 381 total return yards. Aiyuk was named third team preseason All-Pac-12 Conference going into his senior season. He was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after catching seven passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns in a 38–34 win over Washington State on October 12, 2019. Aiyuk was also named the conference Special Teams Player of the Week after posting 44 kickoff return yards and 76 punt return yards, 63 of which came on his first return for a touchdown at ASU, against Oregon State on November 16. He also had a career high 10 receptions for 173 receiving yards and a touchdown in the game and his 293 all-purpose yards were the fifth-most in a single game in school history. Aiyuk finished the season with 65 receptions for 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns, returned 14 punts for 226 yards and one touchdown and 14 kickoffs for 446 yards and was named first team All-Pac-12 as both a wide receiver and as a return specialist.

Statistics

Professional career

Aiyuk was selected with the 25th pick in the 2020 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers after they acquired the pick from the Minnesota Vikings in a trade. He signed his four-year rookie contract with the team on June 26, 2020.