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 how good he is when he plays. Mike Evans is getting older. You can see the downside.
But also, the upside, if the offensive line is just fine in the way that Kyle Shanahan has been able to work around them, and then these skill players can be like 85% of what we want this group to be, holy sh*t man, they’re going to be so good.
Mays: I’m fine admitting that I’m probably too low on the Lions. The idea that you have the Lions ahead of Kyle Shanahan on this list is f*ck*ing disrespectful.
Klassen: To Shanahan specifically, sure. I think this Lions skill group is so underrated.
Mays: I am holding out hope, and there’s danger in this. I think if Kittle stays healthy, and if Kittle can come back and be on the field early in the season, and this is a terrifying thing to say, but if Pearsall can stay healthy, the combination of Mike Evans—even at this stage of his career, Kittle, Pearsall, and McCaffrey, to me, is absolutely terrifying.
Like, one of the things: I went back and watched a decent amount of Niners. OK, the skill position talent may not be what it used to be, and the offensive line still has some questions about that. The running game was average. What is this group really doing to lift the quarterback? The numbers are really good, but what does it actually look like?
There are so many things that drive this offense lifting the quarterback up. The way they use space is better than anybody. How they use every inch horizontally of the field, and make things really, really difficult on defenses when they get five (eligibles) out in the route, no one is doing it better than this team. And they’re doing it more often than anybody.
79.4% of their pass attempts last year came with five guys out in the route. I believe that’s the highest percentage in the league. And when that fifth guy is McCaffrey, it just changes the entire complexion of what defenses can do.
But beyond the big-picture takeaways and being reminded of how good it is, one of my conclusions after rewatching this is that I think Pearsall is a star. I legitimately think he’s a star-level player. With Kittle, with Evans, with McCaffrey, and everything Kyle Shanahan is doing, that to me is why they’re so high on the list for me.
Klassen: That really might be it for me. There are so many “ifs” with the skill players. Because I agree, if you guarantee me 17 games for everybody on the Lions and everybody on the 49ers, it’s comparable. Obviously, the play-calling is way better. I’m just not confident that we’re going to get those out of those guys.
Mays: Among players with 50 targets last year, do you know Pearsall was fourth in first downs per target? Fourth. The guys ahead of him, I believe, were Puka, Pickens, and number one was Kittle. That’s it. Kendrick Bourne was sixth. The Niners are good. Kyle Shanahan is very, very good.
