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Will the 49ers Open Up Their Passing Game This Year?

At some point, Kyle Shanahan has to feature what his players do best.

Grant Cohn

Feb 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during a press conference before Super Bowl LVIII at Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during a press conference before Super Bowl LVIII at Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The 49ers offense needs to evolve.

It's good, but it could be even better if it were balanced. The 49ers have arguably the best receiving corps in the NFL plus a quarterback who led the NFL in passer rating last season, and yet they still ranked dead last in pass attempts.

The 49ers offense is much too Christian-McCaffrey-centric, and they know it. That's why Kyle Shanahan recently said he wants to lighten McCaffrey's load in 2024. That could mean using other running backs more often, running backs such as Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason. Or it could mean passing more.

The 49ers are extremely invested in their passing game. They have Deebo Samuel who earns almost $24 million per season. They have Brandon AIyuk who wants $30 million per season and just might get it. They have Jauan Jennings who makes nearly $8 million per season. And they have Ricky Pearsall whom they just drafted in Round 1 this year. Not to mention Brock Purdy, who will become one of the highest-paid players in the NFL next year.

At some point, Shanahan has to feature what his players do best.

The days of hiding Jimmy Garoppolo behind a dominant running game are over. Garoppolo was a disaster waiting to happen. He was slow and he made bad decisions. Shanahan didn't want to put the game in his hands, because he'd lose it.

Purdy is different. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the league, he's mobile and he makes terrific decisions. And he has the best weapons in football.

Let them cook.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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