The Seattle Seahawks made the San Francisco 49ers look slow on both sides of the ball. The defense struggled to catch up to Kenneth Walker and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, while the pass catchers couldn’t run away from Seattle’s secondary. Outside of a couple of routes, that was true in the Wild Card round against the Philadelphia Eagles, too.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked on Wednesday if he felt improving team speed is a priority this offseason, and whether Shanahan feels like it’s something the team needs
more of moving forward:
“Yes, definitely. I mean, being fast helps, being good helps. There’s lots of ways to do it, but you’d love it balanced out perfectly with your whole team offensively, defensively, special teams. But, we noticeably were slower this year than we have been in year’s past. Sometimes that’s substituted for a better football player. That doesn’t mean you’re always worse because of that. But, you definitely need more speed out there to handle things week-in and week-out for some of the situations that come up versus certain schemes and certain defenses, certain offenses too.”
Earlier in the week, we felt like one of the 49ers’ fatal flaws was the lack of team speed. That answer suggests Shanahan agrees.
Demarcus Robinson ran a 4.59 40-yard dash ten years ago at the NFL Combine. Kendrick Bourne ran a 4.68 40. Jauan Jennings, a 4.72. These are players who played significant roles for the 49ers this past season at wide receiver.
That’s where inserting a player like rookie Jordan Watkins or whether the myth of Jacob Cowing will make a difference. Ricky Pearsall proved he can win down the field, but when you can’t balance the field with multiple threats, your offense becomes easier to defend.
The 49ers were excellent at limiting explosive plays defensively, but that was centered on playing top-down coverage more than on their cornerbacks being shut down.
Deommodore Lenoir’s 40-time was in the 64th percentile, but his 20-yard shuttle was in the 13th percentile, with a 29th percentile vertical jump and 30th percentile 3-cone. Those numbers do not scream high-end athlete. Renardo Green’s jumps were above average, but his 40 was in the 46th percentile. Ji’Ayir Brown’s 40 was in the 18th percentile.
An infusion of athleticism at wide receiver and defensive back will go a long way in the 49ers’ upgrading their team speed this offseason.
