49ers Playbook: Does Kyle Shanahan Need to Reinvent Himself?

The 49ers have been extremely disappointing this season. What's happened with the offense and does Kyle Shanahan need to re-invent the way he runs the offense?
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[@GeassEnabler]

The assistant coaches thing seems very poignant. Execution has been way down this year, and the injuries haven't helped, but often people look lost and confused about what theyre supposed to do. Here's hoping next season they show up to work at practice.

[@glasscity2490]

I think it’s hilarious that JD, literally the ONLY guy on KZbin who watches film and understands what he sees, gives proof that KS is running the same plays he always runs, but ppl want to say no “he’s running more screens”…. as if that’s proof that a coach is “reinventing” himself. L..M..A..O

[@geotherapy]

I mean, he straight up says "Do I think Kyle Shanahan needs to reinvent himself? I don't. I think the plays are there. Do I think he needs to look at some of the coaching staff? I do." The premise of this entire video is that Shanahan's playcalling is still fine if executed well - but our execution by our lackluster offensive line and the 2nd and 3rd (and in some case, 4th and 5th stringers) are not executing plays. Partially due to talent and partially due to lack of reps.

[@samuelault4723]

If you like this style of film breakdown check out Josh Putnam, unfortunately his focus is the NFC west as a whole so you’ll get notis for Rams, Cards and Hawks as well.

[@bobbymira8234]

@@geotherapy I think anyone's plan seems to work in practice, regardless of coach, but Kyle does draw up plays that should theoretically work. His biggest problem tho is not realizing what his players' limitations are. You go here, you do this, you run this way, perfect, that should work in the actual game, but then not realizing that all it takes is one idiot to screw up the entire play and guys like Brendal and Banks have done it way too often.

[@ChewsCarefully]

Well you're not _wrong._ But while the title implies a good concept, the execution & scope are lacking. First, one needs to establish what KS _is,_ then see if that needs changing. You don't start with the most recent game. I can't claim to be an expert or to have watched a ton of film. But I see things others miss & it has helped me help others get past their own perceived limits. The entire Mike Shanahan tree has trust issues. Kyle might be the worst of the bunch. McVay creates plays All Players can execute. Shanahan keeps tighter control & creates player-specific ones. Then what happens when a player is injured? If it's an RB, nothing much. anyone else & he *has no plan B & **_THAT_** is his biggest Achilles heel.* Actually, _all members_ of the Shanahan tree have this. I think that Mike once had a spy for another team betray him because all of the coaches that were with him for the ol' Redskins seem to be adverse to writing down any plans beyond A & seem to Lose Their Minds when Plan A doesn't work. I could rip Andy Reid several new ones as well, but I have to admit, he keeps his cool in the clutch precisely because he runs scenarios in his head before games. All the Shanahan seedlings act like asking them to triggers a post-hypnotic reaction in their heads put there through years of aversion therapy. Lafleur starts screaming at the refs, his own players, the air around himself, McDaniel tries to act cool, McVay becomes like McCarthy or McDermott (wait, how many HCs are of Irish descent here?) & starts calling the Worst Plays & _none_ of them can think clearly. & this would all cease to be a problem if they planned ahead even just once. Kyle doesn't need clutch moments to go into his weird state. No more than 6 minutes into the 3rd quarter of any game, he switches into a new set of plays. & like a computer, he's 100% incapable of switching out of them. It's weirs, but it's consistent. When they put Purdy in for Jimmy G. I thought it had stopped but no. They were only scoring more points but he was still shifting into the new play sets & sticking to them, not changing back or to new ones. He locks in for the rest of the game. I only started watching in '22 & started noticing this about week 7. I only found out later he was responsible for 28-3 & damn if he didn't change every play that had been working up 'til then, stuck to the changes no matter how much they failed & didn't run out the clock because that wasn't part of whatever plays his internal processor switched to. It's so strange.

[@jonnydel]

Josh is a great guy, I really appreciate him.

[@DamiensRegicide]

Best analysis on KZbin. Needs more attention and boost.

[@RandomUsernameGenerator]

Seems to me the season was lost at the offensive line. I think thats where the investment needs to be in the future. Jim Harbaugh always invests in his offensive lines and look where he is today.

[@gbassman5341]

Kyle needs to re-invent his draft strategy and how he decides who to pick as coaches/coordinators. Need to go back to focusing on the OL/DL, not skill positions

[@Chris90.]

well said

[@Robby43932]

“Backle” is the situation at tackle right now lol

[@daveslay3449]

You mean bad-le

[@johnshoup9060]

On the flair out to the back at the 31:00 mark. I would argue that's on Brock for not throwing it to the back. The LB didn't even step out with him. The RB has blockers and one unaccounted for player that didn't even step that way. Brock has to throw that be it CMC or Joe Blow, because that's what the read dictates.

[@kalator]

Happy Holidays and as always, Go Niners!!

[@Redpoppy80]

My personal take is that the Niners got super wasted after the SB loss and just went into camp suffering from a world class hangover and still haven't reached sobriety yet. Also the League has Kyle's handbook now. I have no doubt that Kyle is a top 5-10 head coach but I am no longer convinced that he is good enough to win it all when it matters most.

[@jamesgallegos4665]

Look at the team from last year, that went to the Superbowl, and this year's team. Notice a difference? The difference is phenomenal! The team that went to the SB had a complete roster of offense and defensive stars while this year's team had a shadow of what was a season before! What can you expect? When your vital parts are missing, you will not perform as you did! Plain and simple. No NFL team can win when their star players are out or gone! Sad truth.

[@jonnyvelocity]

"What can you expect?" The Head Coach to adjust and play to his current player's strengths instead of trying to jam them into an outdated system.

[@jamesgallegos4665]

@@jonnyvelocity Respect. The system is installed and you can't just switch the playbook to adjust for the current roster's strength on a dime! Tweak this and that perhaps, but to reinvent the offense / defense at this late point? Not going to happen! Team has got to be healthy and intact from start to finish to compete!

[@Wolfeson28]

I agree that I don't think Shanahan needs to massively reinvent himself. However, I do think he needs to make some smaller-scale adjustments and add in some new wrinkles, because it does look to me like opposing defenses are figuring out his tendencies. Defenders seem to be that step or half-step quicker which comes from being able to see the tells and recognize the concepts in our plays that little bit earlier. I think that's what is limiting receivers' space and reducing our margin for error at least as much as the absence of one player like CMC. Also, if defenses have a better idea of where Purdy or our other players' reads are in certain plays, they can add in wrinkles to muddy those reads, which contributes to errors in execution. Our offense can still work reasonably well despite all of that if we've got all our elite talent out there, but once we lose some of that and we can't simply out-talent everybody anymore, it falls apart. I 110% agree that the O-line *has* to be the biggest priority this offseason. The pass protection has always been iffy, but now we seemingly can't even run-block. Once again, this is why I was really upset that they didn't do more to address it last season, because now we've got a bunch of holes and we have to deal with them all at once. Our situation would be a heck of a lot better right now if we'd taken Jackson Powers-Johnson or Zach Frazier in the 1st round - nothing against Pearsall, but we did not need another WR (ANY WR) there. Likewise at tackle, where we did nothing at all in the last draft, and kept only one backup tackle on the roster, and lo and behold, now we're out of tackles and stuck playing our 4th guard at LT.

[@TheGreatRepeller]

Hard to win with 4th 5th and 6th stringers starting every game. The league has let the players down with more games on different days yet the Roster remains at 53. The roaster should be 70.

[@truman4956]

There should be two bye games to extend the season the 18 weeks

[@DamiensRegicide]

And needs a minor leagues

[@Ishai1]

Two TNF games on short weeks was just crazy but this team wasn't winning with their 1st stringers either.

[@jonnyvelocity]

Lions are winning with 18 players on IR

[@TheGreatRepeller]

@@jonnyvelocity Every player isn't the same like a video game metric. The Lions didn't lose a McCaffery or Dre or Huff or Williams.

[@bobbymira8234]

So at 33:02 where Pearsall is not on the line, I'm confused. How do we know its on him? Why isn't it on Jennings? All he had to do was either say something to Pearsall to step up a foot or Jennings could step up to be the eligible receiver on the line, correct? I mean JJ is looking right at him, LOL - I don't get why its only on Pearsall if either receiver could step up a tick.

[@jonnydel]

@@bobbymira8234 the coach chewing Pearsall out on the sideline after is a pretty good indicator

[@bobbymira8234]

@@jonnydel I mean I get it, its probably on him, but what I was looking for is why arent his teammates and coaches picking him up both during and after the play? Why doesnt Purdy notice this, or Jennings or the coaches? Theres adequate time to make sure everyone is lined up right before you snap it. One of Brocks duties is to look at the entire line before he snaps it. Are the coaches not looking at the formations pre-snap? A lot of times I see the WRs doing a quick look at the sidelines. I just dont understand why theres no one helping him out. People make mistakes all the time.

[@bobbymira8234]

@@BeingButterfly Im not saying he needs to be dependent on coaches, but damn Niners, help a brotha out. I honestly don't think it's that hard for a teammate to tell him at the last second to move up a foot. And Purdy has been in the NFL long enuf to observe those things. Now if its Deebo or Kittle, or JJ, then BP prob doesn't pay attention, but if its a rookie, maybe give it an extra look before you snap it. just sayin.

[@MarlonAndGabriela]

Can’t wait for Brendel to be off this team. He is a practice squad player at best.

[@jonnyvelocity]

Who's keeping him here?

[@Elan8chz]

Great breakdown, teams do not respect most of our RB and even worse with 44 all year especially when they are 5 yard LOS

[@MikeP707]

Real football heads respect your opinion

[@jonnyvelocity]

RE-invent himself? He didn't invent himself in the first place. His dad did.

[@Cedtrevg]

Why does everyone gloss over the fact that Shanahans passing concepts have never been great?

[@Chris90.]

what passing concepts? define "great"?

[@deepsea5266]

Personnel choices, coaching , running players in the ground, benching players that are leading the league in rushing, etc. These are the factors that have me fed up with Kyle. Great analysis 👍 👏. I see the X's and O's of it all. I am not confident that Kyle's the best leader of men, and cannot get physical and smack people in the mouth late in the season.

[@jonnyvelocity]

@@BeingButterfly But they're all true. He's trash.

[@ernestsire1924]

Blocking scheme at 5:30 looks a suspect. Leaving the back all alone to block that rusher.

[@FESpecialties]

Yes!!! The league has totally figured out Kyle’s approach, and he has not adapted to this fact!! That, and an O-line that is not even close to a playoff, let alone SB, trajectory, has led to this very disappointing season!

[@runcoltrun]

There has been a regression in Brock's decision making this year though. The past two years if he saw someone had the wrong leverage, he's immediately hitting the out routes. This year it's almost as if he's trying to prove he has a strong arm - squeezing throws in late and chucking it deep. He isn't taking check downs either. Purdy needs to remember who he is. Honestly, this feels like Kyle is trying to run the 2016-17 version of the falcons offense but the team just isn't built that way. Purdy doesn't have Matt Ryan's arm - period. Even if starters are healthy, no one is a Julio Jones and BA could maybe be a Sanu. TBH - JJ is NOT a starting X WR. That's been the biggest showing of Kyle's stubbornness to play young guys. At this point, I want to see what we have in Cowing and Pearsal. Kyle also hasn't built a TEAM - he's picked starters. Every time a single starter goes down, the team falls to pieces. There is no next man up mentality with this team - it seems like coaches favor gets you playing time, not skill (Deebo is washed - I've said it for the past two years) - and there's no talent behind the starters (burford, moore, allen, etc;). Not to mention, Kyle brought on Brandon Staley who is a cancer to every team he's been a part of.

[@thunderwalker5827]

Speaking on the play that you're reviewing at the 30 minute mark in the video, has Brock pre-determined that he's just not going to throw the ball to Taylor? I get that he's not McCaffrey, but if the Mike isn't going to help out on the 3 receiver side, why not give Taylor a chance to make a play? I don't think he ever considered it as an option.

[@itzel3512]

At 41:47, you can tell Kyle noticed it went wrong before it was even thrown. He puts his hands up like “what the hell are you doing?”

[@itzel3512]

Even more at 42:50 he knew that play was done for

[@michaelblack6888]

So how frequent do receivers need to run their routes with the wrong leverage or completely run the wrong route before the OC catches blame?

[@Ishai1]

Kyle's offense looked different to me early this season. It got worse when he lost some of the best weapons. Maybe he made changes because he thinks he can do more with Brock, although if that's the case he should've made changes to the OLine to protect him better, or maybe he was changing things trying to stay ahead of DCs. It was clear it didn't work, and it wasn't because of injuries. The Dolphins offense also looked very different this season. Same with Houston. There's an old saying that DCs are the most adaptable animal in sports. You give them a year or two and they'll figure out how to stop your offense. So yea, Kyle probably should make some changes. He'll probably spend a lot of time in the offseason watching tape to see what defenses are doing. I'm sure he'll come back with counters to that next season, and hopefully we won't get hit with the injury bug because this season was crazy. And maybe, maybe, they'll do something about that OL.

[@eriktherealtor]

I think Kyle needs to take his foot off the pedal a little bit when it comes to YAC for the sake of resource management. They always have too many injuries to play up to their potential. Last year's Super Bowl run was an anomaly; this year is the norm.

[@danielmartinez-mq9bz]

I’m kinda glad the niners didn’t make it to the playoffs this year.. watching their games the way they were playing were hurting my mental health 😂😂

[@cjgray9352]

The line is awful 😞

[@whatnot8489]

Even if they are, they're not all that different from past yrs. '24, 13th pass block win rate. '23, 10th. '22, 20th. '21, 14th. '20, 22nd. That 2020 team is of note bcuz that OL was the worst of the 5 & the skill grp had so many injuries that rookie BA led the team w/ 825 total yds (for context, Deebo's at 785, so by season's end that would be 5th on this team), and yet they scored more ppg than the '24 team.

[@Wolfeson28]

@@whatnot8489 True, but at least those lines in past years could run-block well (even for far lesser RBs than CMC), which helped keep the defense from pass-rushing as aggressively. This year, the line seemingly can't even do that. When a group of linemen is chosen more for their run-blocking over their pass-blocking, but they can't even succeed at the thing they're supposedly good at while being no better in their weaker area, that's a bad combination.

[@whatnot8489]

@@Wolfeson28 You're not wrong. But is it just the OL? I saw JuiceCheck miss a lot of blocks this yr in the redzone. His PFF grade is an abysmal 57.8. vs Banks at 65.4 (who we all know took a step back this yr - playing hurt?) & McKivitz at 71.0. I know PFF isn't the end all, but a RT at $2.3m is a bargain & McKivitz has outplayed his contract. Banks is at $1.77. But the FB who makes more than them combined at $4.55m gets zero flack.

[@steveo601]

He needs to majorly fix that oline and add veteran speed at wr that needs incorporated into every play. Man is killing Kyle

[@jeremyaguilar3805]

Some of these pass plays don’t allow time to beat one of ones. Many of these pass plays are designed for zone too. The timing on a couple of the plays you went over, didn’t allow WRs to beat man and be in synch with Brock. At first I wasn’t sure if the WRs couldn’t beat man to man and press coverages but I am starting to think it’s a mix of play design and WR ability to separate.

[@steveo601]

The clear issue with Brock is arm limitation. Top of the game mind, right there but mid pack arm at best. Lower mid. Very fine line and I’m for one concerned that his arm injuries/surgey have hurt his throwing strength. Lots of balls significantly underthrown this year. Stop the 7 step drops. He’s not Nix who can throw it 65 yards in stride

[@_STNML]

It has always been my belief that Kyle's scheme is too difficult. Relies too much on timing and precision. We've seen it time and again that even when we're missing a couple players, the offense completely grinds to a hault. Couple that with Kyles refusal to play rookies and back ups, It really leaves this team vulnerable the entire season

[@ERSLIFE-we1mg]

idk about the rest of you,but i remember being promised a Super bowl,anything less is a slap in the face

[@kwiffleball]

With the false start penalty it might be worth looking at the broadcast tape to hear the cadence. This might not be the case but my gut is telling me that 64 might have snapped the ball late, where Purdy gives the hut, everyone hears it but the center's timing is just a little off.

[@jonnydel]

@@kwiffleball it was a silent count

[@kwiffleball]

@@jonnydel Welp.

[@steveo601]

Jennings,Deebo and Juice are killing the passing game without CMC back there to make the scheme coaches scheme work. There is 0.00000000000000000000000000005 speed on the field to beat tight coverage.

[@poorsam9173]

Shanahan's system is just too complex. Even players who have been there multiple years still make errors. Player turnover is too frequent in the the modern NFL for nuanced systems, no matter how good they are.

[@harveyhashimoto2384]

Hey, JD, you need to be the Quality Control coach. Period. Offense and Defense. So you aren't in the league coaching right now. Too bad. The group Journey found their replacement lead singer on the internet. Niners can look at your video analysis and judge your brain. Kyle can do the scheming, you will be there to see who is NOT executing their job after a game. Then the coaches can work to correct it before the next game. Then at the end of the year, the Draft team can look for who can fill the defects in personnel, especially in the later rounds when rookie salaries are cheap. Catching that Deebo let his defender stay on outside leverage on an outside breaking route is something the Receivers coach should be catching in training camp, not the 15th game of the season. You put it right on video as proof of your knowledge.

[@Cubey15]

On 33 mins … how do we know it’s Pearsall that should be on the line and not Jennings? Are there rules on which one it should be? Cos pragmatically, it’s clearly Jennings that has the advantage of looking down the line from the outside and should be able to see no one is on the line and step forward surely?

[@jonnydel]

@Cubey15 pearsall getting royally chewed pit by the WR coach after that series is a good indicator

[@jamilp2869]

ahhhhhhhhhhh... it hurts...

[@ryanspry5271]

Johnny when you say they need to take a hard look at the coaching staff, who are you referring to? The o line coaches? Getting a OC? Asked you this on Reddit but I still don’t understand how they are so undisciplined and missing the attention to details. It’s pretty concerning because this is the stuff you see for teams who suck over and over. Do you think these are things that can be fixed in the offseason?

[@jonnydel]

@ryanspry5271 I do think it's things that cam he fixed because they didn't look like this in 19, 21, 22 or 23. What i mean is evaluate internally who was responsible for what and where consistent breakdowns were. Some of what Foerster is responsible should be communicating between RB/TE and OL on how they will execute protection schemes for 3rd downs and such. Sometimes those 3rd down protections are under someone else's umbrella. We don't know who is all responsible for what, but there's a clear disconnect on some of their stuff and they need to evaluate why

[@ryanspry5271]

@ if Kyle offered you a job to be the OC next year do you think you’d be successful? I never played football but it seems your knowledge of the sport is top tier.

[@geotherapy]

@@ryanspry5271 Not to take anything away from JD but there's a huge difference between evaluating a game after the fact and planning for a game and making live adjustments to a game plan.

[@ryanspry5271]

@@geotherapyoh I’m sure, maybe I should have gone with could you be a quality control coach instead of a OC haha

[@Peace2Umans]

Uh, YES 🙄 Shanahan is not a closer…. Never has been 😮 Anyone watch the SB last year??

[@bobbymira8234]

@jonnydel - so for the Pearsall illegal formation lining up wrong thingy, why arent his teammates like Jennings, Kittle or even Purdy saying something to him? Or why isnt one of the coaches screaming from the sidelines to get it right pre-snap? I get he's missed time and making rookie mistakes, so I don't fully blame him - but the Vets on the team need to ensure he's lining up right. The guys who have been here need to be lookin out for them rookie mistakes.

[@jonnydel]

@@bobbymira8234 Jennings didn't have time before the snap, Kittle was looking on at the ball

[@bobbymira8234]

Sorry one more question. Is the rule 3 eligibles on the LOS? I thought the rule was 7 men must line up on the LOS and only the two outer most players on the line are eligible because the TE is usually considered in the backfield if a WR is lined up next to him.

[@jonnydel]

@@bobbymira8234 7 men total but no more than 3 on each side of the center

[@bobbymira8234]

@@jonnydel So you mean no more than 3 Eligibles on either side of the Center?

[@jonnydel]

@bobbymira8234 no, no more than 3 men on the line on each side of the center, last man on the end is eligible, everyone else has to be off the line. One way people will do tackle eligible is: Have a WR to the left, off the line, on the right, have your TE on, WR on and then 2 others off the line to the right. That makes the tackle eligible and the TE ineligible

[@bobbymira8234]

@@jonnydel But I don't think theres a rule stating you cannot have 4 guys to the right of the center. Lets say the RG, RT, Extra Blocker (Jumbo Formation), then WR. Thats 4 guys on the line, but only the WR is eligible - but thats 4 guys lined up to one side of the center.

[@jonnydel]

@bobbymira8234 it's not about how many are on each side, it's how many are allowed on the line. I'm simplifying it because 7 men total kn the line. One guy has to snap it, so it most normal situations you'll have 2 lineman each side, so 5 total. Thag gives you one on each side, but the end man on each side is eligible. If lineman #'s dont report as eligible, that's a violation. Thr Patriots did some funky things a few years ago challenging teams ability to identify eligibles a number of years ago

[@Jruss2700]

No more excuses we needa a QB

[@davidlandrum]

No. Happy new year everyone! 🎉

[@JahRasta01]

Johnny, is there Hope next year?

[@jonnydel]

@@JahRasta01 there always is

[@Wolfeson28]

There is always hope. And not just a fool's hope.🧙‍♂

[@jonnyvelocity]

With this coach and this front office drafting? It's not looking good.

[@johnshoup9060]

I think one of penalties on Pearsall was actually on Kittle per him and Kyle.

[@Werockn]

Kittle gave up on the scramble drill , our o line i feel like whole team is lost

[@ERSLIFE-we1mg]

all i’m hearing is excuse after excuse for Brock and Kyle lmfao

[@jonnyvelocity]

but.. but.. injuries

[@obidianudokem858]

We need to rebuild for 2025

[@dabig25]

He's a Good play designer but NOT a good play caller . Needs to hire a full hand on play caller but he's to stubborn and hard headed

[@kellybassett6504]

Brock was hurt, when a TE was supposed to block Reddick.

[@jonnydel]

@kellybassett6504 everyone runs that play. The Eagles ran it last game too

[@jonnyvelocity]

a 3rd string TE

[@samuelault4723]

I think Kyle’s been holding Brock back all season with his dated offence. I’m also sick of his “good enough” approach to the Oline. I don’t get why he neglects the position group he wants to dominate so bad with the Dline is regularly bolsters and invests in.

[@jonnyvelocity]

5 wide, 5 step drop, BS from Shanahan.

[@kellybassett6504]

these players are on the field because of kyle.

[@jonnyvelocity]

@@BeingButterfly "It's foolish to assume Shanahan is running every facet of the team" The head coach? The guy who has cameras and microphones in every training room?

[@truman4956]

Deebo is a terrible route runner

[@4gegtyreeyuyeddffvyt]

Fire Kyle!!!!