Niners Nation
The supporting cast is sometimes just as important, if not more important, than the quarterback. The Athletic’s Derrik Klassen and Robert Mays debated which NFC teams had the best supporting casts in the NFC. Here’s how the conversation went when the San Francisco 49ers came up.
Klassen: At No. 4, I have the San Francisco 49ers. And that ultimately comes down to the offensive line in San Francisco is ultimately going to be worse than it is in Dallas. I still think the top of the Dallas skill talent is probably better, if only because Mike Evans is getting older and George Kittle- we’ll see, in terms of his health.
But Kyle Shanahan is incredible. This, to me, in the way that you were talking about Matt LaFleur, prints top-10 offenses; Kyle Shanahan prints top-5 offenses. With him, I’m a little more willing to buy that, despite the offensive line questions.
Mays: The Niners are firmly at the top of this tier of teams. I do think there’s a separation between them and who I have at No. 1 and No. 2, but the Niners were a no-doubt-about-it third overall and at the top of this tier. The only reason they’re not in the group of teams that I had and one and two, was because of the run game just isn’t a dominant, ‘we can assert ourselves in this way’ sort of group.
They were dead on average in the run game last year. That’s truly the only thing. Keeping the offensive line talent and the ceiling that the offensive line gives them is not quite what it is for teams at the top, because they can’t assert themselves on the ground the way that the Bears and the Rams can.
That’s the only reason I think that the Niners are a step back from those two teams. Other than that, there’s everything to like about this.
I think that the Kyle Shanahan part is undeniable. Last year, they led the NFL in passing success rate. Overall, they did it as a team. 39.3% of their attempts went for first downs, which was the highest rate in the league. If you look at it as individual quarterbacks, Brock Purdy was No. 1 in the NFL in passing success rate. Who do you think was No. 2? It’s Mac Jones.
If we’re trying to isolate the elements around the quarterback, their quarterbacks finished 1 and 2 in passing success rate last year. It’s ridiculous how well put together this thing is consistently. Again, the only reason they are not up there with a couple of these other teams is because their run game didn’t have the same ‘F you’ level that the Bears and the Rams showed last year.
Klassen: To me, and I don’t know how much how higher this would push them, but they are a fragile group. Kittle is coming off an injury; McCaffrey has dealt with it before. Ricky Pearsall is always kind of hurt, despite...
