49ers Predicted To Replace Brandon Aiyuk by Taking 32-TD WR in 2026 NFL Draft

The San Francisco 49ers don’t often enter an offseason with unanswered questions at wide receiver. For years, the position has been a quiet strength, layered, versatile, dependable. But this spring feels different. With Brandon Aiyuk expected to move on after a season-ending knee injury and the voiding of his 2026 guarantees, there’s talk that they might replace him via the 2026 NFL Draft.

Why Elijah Sarratt Feels Like the New Answer to Replace Brandon Aiyuk

It isn’t just Aiyuk who will be leaving the 49ers; Jauan Jennings is also bound to be a free agent, and the 49ers’ receiver room suddenly feels less like a finished novel and more like a draft with missing pages. Add George Kittle recovering from a torn Achilles, and the offense Kyle Shanahan so carefully orchestrates is in need of a new leading man.

There’s something undeniably on-brand about the 49ers potentially replacing Aiyuk not with a track-star headline grabber, but with a wide receiver who wins with timing, intelligence, and a certain stubborn charm.

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This is where Elijah Sarratt comes in, according to PFSN’s Ian Cummings. “Elijah Sarratt can carry the torch as a non-elite athlete who nonetheless compensates with size, expert-level route nuance and catch-point positioning, and holds his own as a blocker,” his mock draft for PFSN reads.

The former Indiana Hoosiers athlete isn’t projected to blaze through the combine. However, he has a repertoire that reads like steady devotion: 32 receiving touchdowns across two college stops: James Madison and Indiana. In 2025, he hauled in 15 touchdowns, tying for the national lead.

At 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds, Sarratt understands how to occupy space. He boxes out defenders in the red zone with the subtlety of someone who knows the ending before anyone else does. He thrives on crossers, digs, and slants, those heavy-traffic, blink-and-you-miss-it routes that form the heartbeat of Kyle Shanahan’s passing game. He leans into leverage, settles into soft spots against the zone, and makes life easier on his quarterback.

And that might be the point.

Replacing Aiyuk isn’t about finding someone louder. It’s about finding someone reliable in the quietest, most consequential moments. Sarratt’s game is quarterback-friendly, built on trust, body positioning, and understanding where the play is meant to breathe.

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It’s easy to imagine him sliding into that immediate role, moving the chains on 3rd-and-7, catching a slant through contact in the red zone.

He also blocks willingly and aggressively. In San Francisco, that matters. Shanahan’s receivers are asked to do the unglamorous work that keeps the run game alive. Sarratt’s physicality fits the culture, not just the depth chart.