Just a year after the start of the rebuild, the San Francisco 49ers are already experiencing euphoria again. The combination of head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo appears potentially brilliant. Despite their talent, however, the team still has a few question marks. Can the Niners really attack the playoffs as early as next season?
American football is the ultimate team sport for many: Success is only possible together. Each player is directly dependent on a neighbor. Whether in high school, college or even at the NFL level, no coach ever gets tired of bulldozing his team over and over again.
Pass protection can only work if all five offensive lines block the correct opponent. A flash can only be successful if every rusher attacks the right gap. And yet there is a clear exception to this rule. Because no matter how much team spirit and team spirit are written, football always remains the sport with the most important and valuable position: quarterback.
The quarterback not only touches the ball on every snap, he has to read the defense and adjust his own offense before and during the game. He makes decisions, he gives instructions. The success of a team stands and falls with him. And hardly any other example could illustrate this better than Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers 2017.
The background is well known: The Niners sent a second round pick to New England and in return received their quarterback for the future in the middle of the season. When Garoppolo made his debut as the 49ers’ starting quarterback after a short adaptation period, San Francisco had lost ten of their eleven games of the season. The franchise won all five outstanding encounters with the new bearer of hope Under Center.
The impressive winning streak at the end of the season included wins over the playoff teams Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams. With Garoppolo as signal caller, the Niners scored nearly 30 points per game and were among the top five NFL offenses. It was almost a 180 degree turnaround, after all, with Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard as quarterbacks in five of the eleven games, the team had not even managed to break the eleven point mark.
According to Pro Football Focus, Garoppolo was among the NFL’s best quarterbacks in its five starts in “Clean Pocket Passes”, “Accurate Passes” and “Accurate Passes to Open Receivers”. For the Niners, this was enough to give the 26-year-old a five-year contract worth 137.5 million dollars (74 million dollars guaranteed) despite less than 300 dropbacks and make him the best paid player in the league, at least in the short term.
In addition to Head Coach Kyle Shanahan and General Manager John Lynch, both of whom signed a six-year contract with the 49ers, Garoppolo is the next building block for the franchise rebuild launched in 2017. The trick: Due to the special contract structure, “Jimmy G” only charges the cap an average of 25 million dollars from 2019 to 2022 – this should be a bargain price for a quarterback in these years.
Shanahan, who in the eyes of many experts is vying with Los Angeles’ Sean McVay for the title of the league’s greatest offensive genius, had thus received the most important puzzle piece for an offense according to his ideas. Now it should go to the fine adjustments.
With Center Weston Richburg and Tackle Mike McGlinchey the 49ers put cap and draft capital into their offensive line. Richburg in particular should play a very prominent role in Shanahan’s plans, after all it was Alex Mack’s commitment that took the Atlanta Falcons and Shanahan’s Offense to a new level in 2016. A clean pocket is as much a priority in San Francisco as it was in Atlanta. The fact that Richburg has been a better passport protector than “role model” Mack over the past three seasons should be very convenient for his coach’s plans.
McGlinchey replaces Trent Brown on the right side of the offensive line, who is said to be at an enormous training deficit in Mini Camp. With sheet Tomlinson, Joshua Garnett and Jonathan Cooper, three other former first-round picks are also fighting for the two available Guard spots. There is therefore no doubt that the offensive line has potential. It remains to be seen, however, to what extent the 49ers will be able to achieve their attractive form from the 2017 season’s final spurt with only eight registered sacks in Garoppolo’s five starts.
Richburg and McGlinchey, the most exciting of the 49ers’ offensive newcomers is probably not to be found in the offensive line. Running back Jerick McKinnon has never been able to break the 600 rushing yards mark in a season, came in at just 3.6 yards per carry over the past two seasons – and signed by far the fattest contract of all free agents on the open market in the summer.
What do the 49ers expect from this expensive new addition? Hardly anyone has been able to use his running backs as flexibly and effectively in recent years as Shanahan did with the Atlanta Falcons in his outstanding 2016 season. At the end of the season Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman had more than 2,500 scrimmage yards and 24 touchdowns on their account. McKinnon is now to be the new man for this mismatch role.
McKinnon’s qualities as a runner should only be in secondary demand. Currently, it seems more likely that Shanahan will split the running downs snaps equally between McKinnon, Matt Breida and Joe Williams. McKinnon earned his $30 million over four years ($18 million guaranteed) mainly through his achievements in the passing game.
With more than 75 percent of the passes caught over the past two seasons, he is one of the best receiving backs in the league. Almost as important in the 49ers’ evaluation, however, was McKinnon’s outstanding ability as a pass blocker. McKinnon will play a critical role in Third Downs next season and – given the abstinence of a dominant X receiver (Pierre Garcon remains a question mark in this respect) – could indeed become Shanahan’s most dangerous weapon alongside Garoppolo.
While the offense seems to be ready for the next step, it remains to be seen how quickly and how strongly San Francisco can develop and improve defensively. The Niners are also blessed with talent in the defense, but there is still a question mark behind the actual performance of many high performers.
Question mark number one: Solomon Thomas. Selected in third place in the draft last year, Thomas caused only a few enthusiasm in his rookie season. The biggest problem for Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh continues to be finding the right position for the D-Liner. In 2017, the 22-year-old got the majority of his snaps as “Leo”, i.e. as an edge defender, and usually only moved into the middle at passing downs, where his qualities were actually supposed to come into their own. With DeForest Buckner as anchor in the middle of the line, Thomas’ role is unlikely to change fundamentally in the coming season. To what extent it could be more effective as an Outside Pass Rusher in 2018 remains to be seen.
Question mark number two: Reuben Foster. Unlike Thomas, the 49ers’ second first-round pick from last year raised almost all doubts in the field. Despite five missed matches, Foster had the team’s second most tackles and, alongside Buckner, was the best player in the defensive unit. In Foster’s case, the question arises: How many games will he actually play?
After injury problems (shoulder, calf and ribs) last season, San Francisco’s Mike Linebacker had to answer for both drug offences and suspicions of domestic violence in the off-season. Even though the latter allegations were finally dropped, Foster will miss the first two games of the coming season due to a suspension.
Question mark number three: Richard Sherman. Do the 49ers really get the Richard Sherman, whom many NFL fans have come to appreciate and either love or hate in recent years? Richard Sherman, who only allowed a catch on more than 50 percent of his targets in one season during his career and who did not allow 94 games in a row to play 100 yard against him? If so, the Secondary should gain in quality with immediate effect, after all Sherman’s Outside Cornerback partner Akhello Witherspoon also convinced with constant performances in his rookie season. If not, the experiment with the former big rival from Seattle could be over after only one year.
The San Francisco 49ers are only entering the second year of their rebuild. The cap situation of the team looks rosy, actually the team 2018 is everything, only not doomed to win. And yet the traditional franchise is again riding on a wave of euphoria. The potentially brilliant combination of Shanahan and Garoppolo makes almost anything seem possible and with Buckner, Thomas, Foster and Sherman, the defense now also has several promising players.
“We made a lot of changes to our roster last year, we had a lot of ups and downs, but we finished the season as a better team,” says Shanahan himself. “We got better players in the draft and in the free agency. We have positioned ourselves to become significantly better.”
San Francisco has the basic building blocks to be able to celebrate success again in the near future. The next steps should be taken as soon as possible – Shanahan doesn’t see it differently: “I won’t say it – but you know what our goal is before each season.