49ers Draft Crush: Imagining a passing offense with 2 Brandon Aiyuks in it

What’s better than having Brandon Aiyuk in your offense?

Having two Brandon Aiyuks in your offense.

That’s the thinking behind this year’s Draft Crush, Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell, who like Aiyuk weighs about 205 pounds, plays with an Aiyuk-ian feistiness, moves the chains like Aiyuk and is similarly — and incredibly — smooth in and out of his breaks.

That last bit is the key. It’s what Kyle Shanahan seeks in receivers. It’s why he traded up for Dante Pettis in 2018 and why he traded up for Aiyuk two years later. Shanahan likes loose, fluid route runners who present clean targets to the quarterback and who can run any route from every position on the field.

“He can play the X, he can play the Z, he can play the F,” Shanahan said after he took Aiyuk at pick No. 25 in 2020. “He’s got the speed to get on top. He’s got the quickness to play in the slot. He’s got the toughness to go over in the middle.”

The same can be said about Mitchell. He’s taller than Aiyuk at 6-2 and he ran his 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in 4.34 seconds. He caught shallow crossers, deep crossers and throws outside the numbers for Texas. He was good on jump balls and was hard to stop near the goal line.

And he was especially effective deep. His 16-yard average depth of target in 2023, per Pro Football Focus, is a huge number — greater than any of the other top wideouts in the draft and evidence that his catch total wasn’t pumped up by screens and shovels. Mitchell’s teammate, Xavier Worthy, might have set the combine record with a 4.21-second 40. But his average depth of target was 10.3 yards. Among the top wideouts, only Washington receiver Rome Odunze’s 15.5-yard average comes close to what Mitchell achieved last season.

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Why else is Mitchell rose-worthy? Let us count the ways:

• The San Francisco 49ers’ receiver situation is, to put it mildly, fuzzy. The triumvirate of Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings ought to be intact for 2024. Beyond that? As it stands, Aiyuk and Jennings are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents next year and Samuel’s contract provides the 49ers with an escape hatch.

And there are no heirs apparent in the chute. Since they took Aiyuk four years ago, the earliest the 49ers have drafted a wideout was late in the third round in 2022 when they got Danny Gray. He has one catch in two seasons.

• If everything goes according to plan, next year the 49ers will make Brock Purdy one of the highest-paid players in the league and the foundation of their offense. It only makes sense to protect that investment with someone who makes the quarterback’s job easier. It’s easy to envision Purdy developing the same sort of comfort level with Mitchell that he has with Aiyuk.

• Just as impressive as Mitchell’s top speed is his acceleration. Per Next Gen Stats, he was up to 14.57 mph in the first 5 yards of his 40-yard sprint, the fastest in his receivers group. His physical traits — height, speed, arm length, movement skills — are those of a top-10 pick. The beauty of Mitchell is that, in a draft loaded with wide receivers, he could be available at pick No. 31. That seems too good to pass up.

Adonai Mitchell (@TexasFootball) recorded the fastest forty yard dash (4.34 seconds) and longest broad jump (11'4") of any receiver in group 8.

During the forty he reached the top speed overall (23.84 mph) and within the first five yards (14.57 mph). pic.twitter.com/jd3tCXWRaC

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 2, 2024

• “Always looking for someone to block.” That’s a passage in Dane Brugler’s scouting report on Mitchell. Brugler pointed me to Texas’ Oct. 7 game against Oklahoma, which wasn’t a prolific receiving day for Mitchell. He had just three catches for 33 yards. But he was active as a blocker, on one play seeking out a defensive back on a run up the middle and on another taking down a Sooners cornerback on a pass to the outside.

Is he Jennings? No. He’s not even Aiyuk when it comes to blocking. But neither was Aiyuk when he was coming out of Arizona State. The point is that Mitchell has the right mentality to be a good down-field blocker, a must-have quality for a 49ers receiver.

• He’s accustomed to playing top cornerbacks. He started out at Georgia where he played against future NFL players like Cam Smith (Miami Dolphins) and Christian Gonzalez (New England Patriots). In 2023, he left Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, a possible first-rounder this year, in the dust on a short touchdown catch.

He’s made a lot of big plays at big moments of big games. And you don’t need to project how he’ll fare against top cornerbacks. He’s already faced them.

This two-play sequence from Adonai Mitchell 👀 pic.twitter.com/D7DVd4SBnE

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 2, 2024

• One more reason Mitchell makes sense: If the 49ers don’t take him at pick No. 31, the Kansas City Chiefs will pounce at pick No. 32. Pass him up in April and you might have to deal with him — in combination with Patrick Mahomes — in February.

Yikes.

Opposition report

• Right now, some/many of you are saying/screaming: If the 49ers really want to protect their Purdy investment, they should draft a tackle. I can’t argue against that logic. However, the team likely would have to trade up to find a true left tackle prospect — say, Georgia’s Amarius Mims or Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton — and that defeats the purpose of Draft Crush, which seeks someone with a good chance of being available when the 49ers have their first pick.

I mean, if you could trade up willy-nilly, why not pick Georgia tight end Brock Bowers or Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt? Draft Crush requires discipline.

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• Having written that, the suddenly receiver-needy Buffalo Bills scare me at pick No. 28. Don’t do it, Brandon Beane.

• With his speed and size, Mitchell would be expected to be great after the catch. But he wasn’t at Texas, averaging 3.2 YAC, which isn’t great and decidedly un-49ers-like. That might be due to a shortage of bubble screens and other YAC-oriented plays (see above), but it stands out.

How past draft crushes have graded out:

2008: G Carl Nicks. Outstanding! Matt is one of my best pupils!

2009: WR Percy Harvin. Solid effort: B+

2010: RB C.J. Spiller. This isn’t quite correct, but I understand what you were going for: C+

2011: OLB Von Miller. A++. Make sure your mom tapes this to the refrigerator.

2012: TE Coby Fleener. Matt’s grade: D; Trent Baalke’s grade (A.J. Jenkins): F-

2013: DL Tank Carradine. Matt is performing significantly below grade level.

2014: WR Cody Latimer. Is everything OK at home?

2015: WR DeVante Parker. Nice try! But wrong.

2016: LB Myles Jack. DeForest Buckner. The answer we were looking for here was DeForest Buckner.

2017: DL Solomon Thomas. Please see me after class.

2018: DE Marcus Davenport. I’m going to write down the name of an optometrist. I think Matt should make an appointment.

2019: S Darnell Savage. N/M — Matt sees great! Three gold stars.

2020: WR Denzel Mims. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

2021: WR Amari Rodgers. We think Matt might be more comfortable in our remedial scouting class.

2022: S Jalen Pitre. Nice job! You obviously did your homework this time!

2023: TE Brenton Strange. Incomplete.

(Photo of Adonai Mitchell: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)