We really comparing Hardman to a guy who had a season (16 game season) with almost 2,000 combined yards, 1400 of them receiving, and 15 total TD's? Really we doing that?

He had 12 total TDs last year in 15 games as well.

Come on man.

Deebo is a glorified RB that gets his yards around the LOS. He's a good player, but he's not really a guy you want at WR in a traditional offense.

You're missing the point entirely dude.

And if it's all about production, why don't you post Aiyuk and Deebo's stats the last couple of years? :hmmm:

Deebo is a lot like Rice. Great YAC ability, gadget role can be used with hmm, but he’s not gonna burn DB’s deep very often.

He’s not a good route runner either. McDuffie was running his routes for him in the SB. That’s embarrassing for a WR

Yes. I wouldn’t argue that Aiyuk isn’t the more prototypical WR. He is 6’ with a 6’8” wingspan. If he didn’t have such mediocre speed I’d say he was basically created in a lab to be a WR.

But when you’re asking “who’s the better WR?”, you can’t just hand waive a bunch of elite qualities Deebo has that makes him the better player overall.

The argument doesn’t need to be rehashed here but bullet points:

-Aiyuk is clearly the fourth option on a star-studded offense, behind Deebo.

-Deebo’s last two seasons, when Aiyuk rose to prominence, have been marred by injury (not a coincidence, IMO).

-Deebo has a 1,400 receiving yard season under his belt. You don’t get that by catching a bunch of dump offs and swing passes all season. He can clearly run big boy routes and separate.

The major issue with this debate is simply timing, I think. Deebo has been heavily injured the last two seasons and Aiyuk is coming off of a career year. At their best, I think Deebo is the better player and I think many would agree.

I’ve actually come around on Hardman. He’s helped us win three Super Bowls now. He is a bit of a disappointment but ultimately a pretty decent 2nd round pick overall.

Though I will say that the cases are different. Deebo has been a stud for San Fran since his rookie year. He’s clearly a leader on his team to this day.

Meanwhile Hardman struggled to crack the starting lineup. He did come in behind Tyreek and Sammy at WR in addition to basically being the fifth option after Kelce and whichever RB we were starting so I’ll give him some leeway there. But even when Sammy was hurt and/or left the team/RBs came and went, it seemed like the coaches turned to Pringle and Robinson more than Hardman.

They’ve both got injury concerns but for different reasons so it’s kind of a wash there.

Hardman also has a career year of 693 receiving yards to Deebo’s 1,405. In additions to that 1,400 receiving yards, Deebo contributed 350 rushing yards and 8 rushing TDs. At his best, Hardman really was just an elite gadget guy who might be good for an occasional big catch downfield once every few games while Deebo was a featured weapon.

He's been their leading receivier the last 2 years, so no matter how many times you say this, it's not remotely true.

There's not a single WR1 on any team that is their "fourth option".

It is embarrassing that you would try to argue that he's behind Kittle too. That's just ****ing reeruned.

The 9ers had Deebo in the backfield alot the past few years. He's never been a traditional WR.

"But but but versatility!"

Don't get me wrong, I like Deebo. Good player, would love him here with Andy.

But if I want a WR that can really run a route and get open? Nah.

Not sure why we're hand waving away the durability issue. It's a constant issue with him.

It's almost as if his skill set is less valuable because he has to take more of a pounding, like a RB.

Besides that being a huge outlier season for him, that’s literally exactly what they were. Over 50% of his 1400 receiving yards, 768, were YAC that season. His average depth of catch, 8.3, was LESS than his average YAC, 10.

In that same offense this past season Aiyuk had 1342 yards but only 382 YAC. His depth of catch was 12.8. A Quick Look at other top receivers guys shows similar percentages for YAC and depth of target on big seasons.

This is why him continuing to bring up his 1,400 yard season is reeruned. No, having a 1,400 yard season under his belt does not automatically mean he's a route runner that can separate consistently. Imagine being that ****ing lazy to think you can just point to 1,400 yards and think you proved something.

I imagine the 49ers will be parting ways with Deebo after the season. So acting like its an either or thing, "which would you rather keep" is kinda meh. I expect them both gone. He carries a $24M cap charge next season.

I think it’s crazy that the 49ers have one year left in their window with a cheap rookie QB and instead of every being on board to win a Super Bowl, they are demanding trades or holding out for big contracts. We are blessed. Hell the Chris Jones crap last year sucked but wasn’t this bad.