Deebo Samuel Brandon Aiyuk
When will rookies actually take the field? Deebo Samuel is trying to mentor Brandon Aiyuk to make sure that he succeeds and learns the Shanahan system. (Michael Conroy/AP)

The San Francisco 49ers took a big swing in the 2020 NFL Draft. With Deebo Samuel already in house, they moved up in the draft to select Brandon Aiyuk. The Arizona State wide receiver now fills the role Emmanuel Sanders left behind. Deebo is trying to be a good teammate by mentoring the rookie.

“I knew how hard it is to be as good as you want to be in this offense, without thinking,” Samuel said on a conference call Wednesday, via Matt Maiocco of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “I gave him a call and was like, ‘Hey, man, I just want you to know, it’s going to take time.’

“He’s got it harder than I do now. Because I was around the coaches and able to use the coaches as much as possible. With him, it’s just a Zoom call. It’s hard to listen to a guy telling you what to do and not being able to go out there on the field. I told him, ‘You just have to lock in, pay attention.’”

Who knows when these rookies are actually getting on the field. I think that’s going to be the biggest thing to monitor. When the hell do the rookies get on the field? Nobody knows the answer to that. Rookies could struggle more than anything this year.

Brandon Aiyuk: Just A Poor Man’s N’Keal Harry?

I didn’t love the 49ers decision to move up for Aiyuk. I get that he has a big wing span but I didn’t see a special receiver watching him play. I didn’t think the 49ers had a great draft in general. The decision to give up numerous picks for Aiyuk is something that didn’t make sense to me. Aiyuk better hit or this draft could turn into a zero quickly.