Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images
One spot ahead of the Cardinals, but one spot behind the Seahawks
The Athletic went through each team in the NFL to rank their offense heading into the 2020 regular season. Sheil Kapadia does great work and cites stats that have some sort of adjustment. He ranked the San Francisco 49ers sixth, which most of us would take:
6. San Francisco 49ers
Last year: 7th
On paper, they didn’t have top-10 talent, but the whole was greater than the sum of the parts last season. That’s a credit to Kyle Shanahan. After reaching the Super Bowl, the 49ers saw two starting offensive linemen retire, and they lost Emmanuel Sanders in free agency. Plus, Deebo Samuel suffered a foot injury, and his status for the start of the season is in question. But the 49ers traded for left tackle Trent Williams and used a first-round pick on wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. They have All-Pro tight end George Kittle and should again produce a creative, efficient run game. Their lack of talent at wide receiver — especially if Samuel misses an extended period of time — is concerning, but Shanahan has earned the benefit of the doubt.
Last years’ ranking was based on Football Outsiders DVOA metric.
The discussion always comes back to experience and talent at wide receiver. Many national analysts believe San Francisco lacks talent outside of Deebo Samuel. The real issue is that outside of Samuel, the majority of the wideouts
About the Author: Insidethe49
