Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Jayden Reed

Saturday, June 14, 11:52 AM

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said on the Pat McAfee Show this week that wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) is making great progress in his rehab from a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee that he suffered last October. "Brandon is doing a tremendous job coming back. It's kind of incredible how well he's healing, and he's putting in the work," Lynch said. Lynch continued to stress that Aiyuk is still an important part of the team going forward, although he's probably not going to be able to make his 2025 debut until around midseason. After a contract dispute last summer, the 27-year-old caught just 25 passes for 374 yards and no touchdowns before his season-ending knee injury seven games into the season. When he returns, he'll battle for targets with George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall. There are a lot of question marks surrounding Aiyuk going into 2025.

Thursday, May 15, 1:01 PM

Green Bay Packers passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said that wide receiver Jayden Reed is up to 199 pounds (up from 185 as a rookie) and has been one of the leaders of the receiver group this offseason. Vrable said that Reed has been "helping Matthew Golden with every single play." The 25-year-old was on pace for his first 1,000-yard season in 2024 in his sophomore campaign in the first half before fading down the stretch and then suffering a dislocated shoulder in the wild-card playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the team adding Golden and Savion Williams in this year's draft, the Packers still view Reed as their "top receiver." However, until we see it, the slot wideout's volume could be volatile, even with Christian Watson (knee) potentially miss half the season. Reed has the potential for a breakout, but he should be viewed as a boom/bust WR3/flex.