49ers to give Kyle Shanahan new 6-year contract

[Pattersonca65]

Probably external chatter more than anything.



https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42864568/coach-kyle-shanahan-makes-clear-wants-49ers

Lynch isn’t Shanahan’s boss, it’s the other way around so getting a comment from him is pointless.

How about getting someone else with the final say in personnel?

I doubt that happens. The Yorks have never really brought in that kind of person above the GM. After the Baalke fiasco York didn't want a strong GM type. One year removed from a super bowl appearance Shanahan isn't going anywhere. If this team is bad another season than things could change and whenever York decides to replace Shanahan it would not surprise me if John Lynch went also.

When the two got their extensions last year, Lynch also received a new title of President of Football Operations. It was added to his GM title. Cant go higher than that. From from what I researched, Lynch has final say on free agency and draft. Shanahan has final say on 53 man roster.

That might be the official line but we all know from this team's history that Shanahan has a big say in the draft on the offensive side of the ball and that Lynch is more of a consensus builder than anything else.

[49er4life1979]

I doubt that happens. The Yorks have never really brought in that kind of person above the GM. After the Baalke fiasco York didn't want a strong GM type. One year removed from a super bowl appearance Shanahan isn't going anywhere. If this team is bad another season than things could change and whenever York decides to replace Shanahan it would not surprise me if John Lynch went also.

When the two got their extensions last year, Lynch also received a new title of President of Football Operations. It was added to his GM title. Cant go higher than that. From from what I researched, Lynch has final say on free agency and draft. Shanahan has final say on 53 man roster.

That might be the official line but we all know from this team's history that Shanahan has a big say in the draft on the offensive side of the ball and that Lynch is more of a consensus builder than anything else.

One example of that was in 2017 Draft, 4th round. RB Joe Williams. Lynch had taken Williams off the draft board because he had too many red flags. But Shanahan "liked his tape." So they drafted him. Major wife there obviously. Dante Pettis was also a Shanahan pick.

[49er4life1979]

Bosa is only 27. He really hasnt had an issues with injuries (except 2020 torn ACL) - and this year. As for Kittle, he is having a monster season at 31. Still the best TE in the game. If Kelce can produce at 35, Kittle damn sure can because he's way better. Kittle has one year left on his deal but i can see them extending his deal by a couple years to lower his cap. As for Williams, need to draft an OT of the future in this upcoming draft. CMC I think will be ok for next year, but definitely has a lot of mileage. They need to balance his workload. As for Kyle, who do have in mind that would be an upgrade? Because thats the ONLY situation you change coaches.

It's not a question of upgrade. The next braintrust may not even be as good as the current one.

My argument is that the current one has reached their ceiling already and is likely on the way down.

So it's pretty certain that you're not going to win with them and letting them rebuild the team for another 4-5 years will also prove futile.

Take a chance on someone younger and hungrier.

Yeah I do believe the team is at a point where there's nothing to lose in shaking it up.

That seems pretty knee-jerk. I don't see any reason to believe that Kyle has peaked. On the contrary, hopefully some of the setbacks this year supply a bit of a wakeup call. But we're also seeing the effects of losing so many DCs. The offense hasn't won games the way it's capable of doing, but it also hasn't typically been the primary reason that we're losing. That has been due to a defense that just hasn't stopped teams in key moments all season (with some STs disasters sprinkled in).

I also don't see why Kyle wouldn't be about as hungry as they come. He needs a title to cement a legacy as one of the great offensive minds. He's got to be about as hungry as they come.

Now, there are definitely some concerns with personnel decisions. The last draft was strong, but the 2023 draft was a disaster as only Dee Winters looks like a potential starting-caliber player (we'll see if Brown can rebound, but this year has been awful). Take away Purdy, and 2022 doesn't look much better with three outright busts to start. Honestly, between 2019 and this past year, it's been almost all bad. If they don't fix that, then Shanahan probably won't last.

Similarly, he's just got to make some major changes on his staff. If Wilks was gone after a year, Sorenson shouldn't have even made it to this point. Same with Schneider. Both guys need to go this offseason.

But just as I think it was silly to say Purdy had peaked last year (even though it was an incredible year that he may never match statistically), it seems very premature to say that Shanahan has peaked. But this team has to find a way to do it with more of a strength in numbers approach vs. having blue chips at almost every spot.

Between 2019 and now they have drafted Bosa, Deebo, Greenlaw, Aiyuk, Lenoir, Hufanga, Jennings, Purdy, JP Mason. The 2024 draft is looking good so far. Not bad at all.

[Pattersonca65]

When the two got their extensions last year, Lynch also received a new title of President of Football Operations. It was added to his GM title. Cant go higher than that. From from what I researched, Lynch has final say on free agency and draft. Shanahan has final say on 53 man roster.

That might be the official line but we all know from this team's history that Shanahan has a big say in the draft on the offensive side of the ball and that Lynch is more of a consensus builder than anything else.

One example of that was in 2017 Draft, 4th round. RB Joe Williams. Lynch had taken Williams off the draft board because he had too many red flags. But Shanahan "liked his tape." So they drafted him. Major wife there obviously. Dante Pettis was also a Shanahan pick.

Bobby Turner wanted him.and yea then Shanahan went along

[Jikkle]

There isn't a move made by Lynch that doesn't have Shanahan's blessing.

That's why I never was really sold on their being friction between the two a couple years back because all of Lynch's picks were also Shanahan's picks.

I'm sure Lynch and Shanahan talk things over in the offseason and put together their FA wishlist and the draft big board so I'm not saying Lynch doesn't have any power or influence but I can't ever seeing Lynch force a guy on Shanahan that he doesn't want.

[49er4life1979]

There isn't a move made by Lynch that doesn't have Shanahan's blessing.

That's why I never was really sold on their being friction between the two a couple years back because all of Lynch's picks were also Shanahan's picks.

I'm sure Lynch and Shanahan talk things over in the offseason and put together their FA wishlist and the draft big board so I'm not saying Lynch doesn't have any power or influence but I can't ever seeing Lynch force a guy on Shanahan that he doesn't want.

I completely agree. I think they work collaboratively. Unlike with Baalke where he did what he wanted and had final say. From what I read, Chip Kelly in 2016 wanted Dak Prescott and Baalke said no. That was the end of it. Lol.

[CrimsonCrew]

It's not a question of upgrade. The next braintrust may not even be as good as the current one.

My argument is that the current one has reached their ceiling already and is likely on the way down.

So it's pretty certain that you're not going to win with them and letting them rebuild the team for another 4-5 years will also prove futile.

Take a chance on someone younger and hungrier.

Yeah I do believe the team is at a point where there's nothing to lose in shaking it up.

That seems pretty knee-jerk. I don't see any reason to believe that Kyle has peaked. On the contrary, hopefully some of the setbacks this year supply a bit of a wakeup call. But we're also seeing the effects of losing so many DCs. The offense hasn't won games the way it's capable of doing, but it also hasn't typically been the primary reason that we're losing. That has been due to a defense that just hasn't stopped teams in key moments all season (with some STs disasters sprinkled in).

I also don't see why Kyle wouldn't be about as hungry as they come. He needs a title to cement a legacy as one of the great offensive minds. He's got to be about as hungry as they come.

Now, there are definitely some concerns with personnel decisions. The last draft was strong, but the 2023 draft was a disaster as only Dee Winters looks like a potential starting-caliber player (we'll see if Brown can rebound, but this year has been awful). Take away Purdy, and 2022 doesn't look much better with three outright busts to start. Honestly, between 2019 and this past year, it's been almost all bad. If they don't fix that, then Shanahan probably won't last.

Similarly, he's just got to make some major changes on his staff. If Wilks was gone after a year, Sorenson shouldn't have even made it to this point. Same with Schneider. Both guys need to go this offseason.

But just as I think it was silly to say Purdy had peaked last year (even though it was an incredible year that he may never match statistically), it seems very premature to say that Shanahan has peaked. But this team has to find a way to do it with more of a strength in numbers approach vs. having blue chips at almost every spot.

Between 2019 and now they have drafted Bosa, Deebo, Greenlaw, Aiyuk, Lenoir, Hufanga, Jennings, Purdy, JP Mason. The 2024 draft is looking good so far. Not bad at all.

I was looking at 2020 through 2023. Obviously 2019 was great, even if Deebo is struggling now.

Honestly, I'm being way too hard on 2020. Kinlaw was a bust, but Aiyuk was a great pick, McKivitz more than worth the fifth-round pick we spent on him, and Jennings awesome in the 7th round. But 2021-2023 are bad.

2021 went Lance, Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Moore, Lenoir, Hufanda, and Mitchell. And obviously we sold the farm for Lance. Lenoir has been great, and Hufanga has been good when healthy, but when you effectively miss on your first five picks (Banks has been a regular starter, but he plays a non-premium position and has struggled more than he's played well), it's not a good draft.

2022 was arguably worse, as Purdy is the only legit contributor out of the bunch. And that one pick basically saves the draft, but we basically fell into that one. All credit for landing Purdy, but if we had any inkling, we would have taken him with our first pick in the draft.

2023 was more of the same, with everyone except Winters looking like a disappointment. Beal has been fine as a rotational player - though we brought him in as a pass rusher and he's been better against the run. Luter might turn into something, but do date he's been responsible for two game-losing STs flubs. Brown has been awful this year.

Overall, the drafting has been better than they get credit for, but they have to get better in the early rounds. Their hit rate in rounds 2-4 is like 15%. They went three years - two of which lacked first round picks - and made ten picks in those rounds, and they literally didn't add a single above average contributor (Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Jackson, Davis-Price, Gray, Burford, Brown, Moody, Latu). You can't sustain a competitive team that way.

[49er4life1979]

That seems pretty knee-jerk. I don't see any reason to believe that Kyle has peaked. On the contrary, hopefully some of the setbacks this year supply a bit of a wakeup call. But we're also seeing the effects of losing so many DCs. The offense hasn't won games the way it's capable of doing, but it also hasn't typically been the primary reason that we're losing. That has been due to a defense that just hasn't stopped teams in key moments all season (with some STs disasters sprinkled in).

I also don't see why Kyle wouldn't be about as hungry as they come. He needs a title to cement a legacy as one of the great offensive minds. He's got to be about as hungry as they come.

Now, there are definitely some concerns with personnel decisions. The last draft was strong, but the 2023 draft was a disaster as only Dee Winters looks like a potential starting-caliber player (we'll see if Brown can rebound, but this year has been awful). Take away Purdy, and 2022 doesn't look much better with three outright busts to start. Honestly, between 2019 and this past year, it's been almost all bad. If they don't fix that, then Shanahan probably won't last.

Similarly, he's just got to make some major changes on his staff. If Wilks was gone after a year, Sorenson shouldn't have even made it to this point. Same with Schneider. Both guys need to go this offseason.

But just as I think it was silly to say Purdy had peaked last year (even though it was an incredible year that he may never match statistically), it seems very premature to say that Shanahan has peaked. But this team has to find a way to do it with more of a strength in numbers approach vs. having blue chips at almost every spot.

Between 2019 and now they have drafted Bosa, Deebo, Greenlaw, Aiyuk, Lenoir, Hufanga, Jennings, Purdy, JP Mason. The 2024 draft is looking good so far. Not bad at all.

I was looking at 2020 through 2023. Obviously 2019 was great, even if Deebo is struggling now.

Honestly, I'm being way too hard on 2020. Kinlaw was a bust, but Aiyuk was a great pick, McKivitz more than worth the fifth-round pick we spent on him, and Jennings awesome in the 7th round. But 2021-2023 are bad.

2021 went Lance, Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Moore, Lenoir, Hufanda, and Mitchell. And obviously we sold the farm for Lance. Lenoir has been great, and Hufanga has been good when healthy, but when you effectively miss on your first five picks (Banks has been a regular starter, but he plays a non-premium position and has struggled more than he's played well), it's not a good draft.

2022 was arguably worse, as Purdy is the only legit contributor out of the bunch. And that one pick basically saves the draft, but we basically fell into that one. All credit for landing Purdy, but if we had any inkling, we would have taken him with our first pick in the draft.

2023 was more of the same, with everyone except Winters looking like a disappointment. Beal has been fine as a rotational player - though we brought him in as a pass rusher and he's been better against the run. Luter might turn into something, but do date he's been responsible for two game-losing STs flubs. Brown has been awful this year.

Overall, the drafting has been better than they get credit for, but they have to get better in the early rounds. Their hit rate in rounds 2-4 is like 15%. They went three years - two of which lacked first round picks - and made ten picks in those rounds, and they literally didn't add a single above average contributor (Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Jackson, Davis-Price, Gray, Burford, Brown, Moody, Latu). You can't sustain a competitive team that way.

Jordan Mason was also an undrafted free agent in 2022 - also look at the undfrafted guys from 2017 - Breida, Bourne, Jeff Wilson, Emmanel Moseley, Azeez Al Shaair, Kevin Givens, Jordan Mason....Not bad overall actiually. Not perfect but what draft is?

[49er4life1979]

Speaking of past drafts, is it just me or has Jaylon Moore been playing very well these past 3 games he's started for Trent? I have not heard his name called one time. No penalties, I dont think he's allowed any pressure, hits, or sacks either.

[CrimsonCrew]

Between 2019 and now they have drafted Bosa, Deebo, Greenlaw, Aiyuk, Lenoir, Hufanga, Jennings, Purdy, JP Mason. The 2024 draft is looking good so far. Not bad at all.

I was looking at 2020 through 2023. Obviously 2019 was great, even if Deebo is struggling now.

Honestly, I'm being way too hard on 2020. Kinlaw was a bust, but Aiyuk was a great pick, McKivitz more than worth the fifth-round pick we spent on him, and Jennings awesome in the 7th round. But 2021-2023 are bad.

2021 went Lance, Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Moore, Lenoir, Hufanda, and Mitchell. And obviously we sold the farm for Lance. Lenoir has been great, and Hufanga has been good when healthy, but when you effectively miss on your first five picks (Banks has been a regular starter, but he plays a non-premium position and has struggled more than he's played well), it's not a good draft.

2022 was arguably worse, as Purdy is the only legit contributor out of the bunch. And that one pick basically saves the draft, but we basically fell into that one. All credit for landing Purdy, but if we had any inkling, we would have taken him with our first pick in the draft.

2023 was more of the same, with everyone except Winters looking like a disappointment. Beal has been fine as a rotational player - though we brought him in as a pass rusher and he's been better against the run. Luter might turn into something, but do date he's been responsible for two game-losing STs flubs. Brown has been awful this year.

Overall, the drafting has been better than they get credit for, but they have to get better in the early rounds. Their hit rate in rounds 2-4 is like 15%. They went three years - two of which lacked first round picks - and made ten picks in those rounds, and they literally didn't add a single above average contributor (Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Jackson, Davis-Price, Gray, Burford, Brown, Moody, Latu). You can't sustain a competitive team that way.

Jordan Mason was also an undrafted free agent in 2022 - also look at the undfrafted guys from 2017 - Breida, Bourne, Jeff Wilson, Emmanel Moseley, Azeez Al Shaair, Kevin Givens, Jordan Mason....Not bad overall actiually. Not perfect but what draft is?

They got great value from those guys. But that's relative to expectations. Three of those guys are RBs, so the value just isn't there regardless. Not to mention that we were drafting RBs high, they were just getting beaten out by the UDFAs and late picks.

Givens is basically a replacement-level player. Great for a UDFA, but you'd be disappointed if he was a second-rounder. Azeez and Bourne are the only two that were able to maintain legit starter status, and then they left because they priced themselves out but weren't good enough to retain (injuries had a lot to do with Moseley, to be fair). So yeah, very good drafting in the 5th round and on, and good targeting of UDFAs, but MAJOR problems in the upper and middle rounds.

[CrimsonCrew]

Speaking of past drafts, is it just me or has Jaylon Moore been playing very well these past 3 games he's started for Trent? I have not heard his name called one time. No penalties, I dont think he's allowed any pressure, hits, or sacks either.

I have not studied him, but he's been better than expected for sure. No glaring issues. That said, the Rams have better edge players than the other teams we've faced lately (and Buffalo is hard to evaluate given conditions), so this week will present more of a challenge.

[49er4life1979]

I was looking at 2020 through 2023. Obviously 2019 was great, even if Deebo is struggling now.

Honestly, I'm being way too hard on 2020. Kinlaw was a bust, but Aiyuk was a great pick, McKivitz more than worth the fifth-round pick we spent on him, and Jennings awesome in the 7th round. But 2021-2023 are bad.

2021 went Lance, Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Moore, Lenoir, Hufanda, and Mitchell. And obviously we sold the farm for Lance. Lenoir has been great, and Hufanga has been good when healthy, but when you effectively miss on your first five picks (Banks has been a regular starter, but he plays a non-premium position and has struggled more than he's played well), it's not a good draft.

2022 was arguably worse, as Purdy is the only legit contributor out of the bunch. And that one pick basically saves the draft, but we basically fell into that one. All credit for landing Purdy, but if we had any inkling, we would have taken him with our first pick in the draft.

2023 was more of the same, with everyone except Winters looking like a disappointment. Beal has been fine as a rotational player - though we brought him in as a pass rusher and he's been better against the run. Luter might turn into something, but do date he's been responsible for two game-losing STs flubs. Brown has been awful this year.

Overall, the drafting has been better than they get credit for, but they have to get better in the early rounds. Their hit rate in rounds 2-4 is like 15%. They went three years - two of which lacked first round picks - and made ten picks in those rounds, and they literally didn't add a single above average contributor (Banks, Sermon, Thomas, Jackson, Davis-Price, Gray, Burford, Brown, Moody, Latu). You can't sustain a competitive team that way.

Jordan Mason was also an undrafted free agent in 2022 - also look at the undfrafted guys from 2017 - Breida, Bourne, Jeff Wilson, Emmanel Moseley, Azeez Al Shaair, Kevin Givens, Jordan Mason....Not bad overall actiually. Not perfect but what draft is?

They got great value from those guys. But that's relative to expectations. Three of those guys are RBs, so the value just isn't there regardless. Not to mention that we were drafting RBs high, they were just getting beaten out by the UDFAs and late picks.

Givens is basically a replacement-level player. Great for a UDFA, but you'd be disappointed if he was a second-rounder. Azeez and Bourne are the only two that were able to maintain legit starter status, and then they left because they priced themselves out but weren't good enough to retain (injuries had a lot to do with Moseley, to be fair). So yeah, very good drafting in the 5th round and on, and good targeting of UDFAs, but MAJOR problems in the upper and middle rounds.[/quote

Yea hopefully the 2024 draft changes that. Thus far our 2nd and 3rd rounder have looked very good- Renardo and Puni. Jury still out on Pearsall. Guerendo has been good. I wish they give Cowing more opportunities, when given the chance he's produced. But Kyle doesn't play rookies unless he had to. He'd rather play Ronnie Bell because he knows the system.

[49er4life1979]

Oh yea I forgot Mustapha. Dude is a gem.

[CrimsonCrew]

Yeah, this draft looks good, with Pearsall the biggest question mark at this point. I think he has the skills to succeed, but so did Pettis and he clearly didn't.

[CharityStripe34]

Biggest move should be hiring an OC. Kyle needs to focus more on being a football coach than a scheme coach. Let someone who shared his version of the WC/Shanahan tree scheme call the plays.

And if they do indeed feel Brock is their guy let him call plays and audibles. Enough of the dictatorship not allowing your QB to audible or shift protections. This idiotic notion that the 2 plays you give him have "answers for any defense" screams arrogance.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using RealGM mobile app

[Jikkle]

Insiders have pretty much confirmed that Shanahan and Lynch will be back next season which isn't a surprise. They both were extended not long ago and so both are still owed millions and I think firing a coach for a bad season after years of steady success wouldn't be a great message to send around the league to potential top coaching candidates around the league.

From my perspective this team is starting to fall behind the curve in every facet and I'm concerned that someone with Shanahan's arrogance won't be able to recognize and make the changes needed.

The special teams needs no introduction to why it needs change and I fully expect that at least to happen.

Defensely I'm expecting Ulbrich to be the DC next season as Shanahan has no problem dropping one coach for another coach he really likes and we know he was really trying to get Ulbrich for this season. Ulbrich would be an improvement but I also think it's a mistake as I believe the scheme needs to be moved on from.

Blitzing and stressing the offensive lines blitz pickup and forcing the QB to check down is more the meta than lining up 4 guys and banking on them getting pressure. Offensive linemen these days are a little quicker but still powerful enough to handle the Wide 9 and because they don't really fear the blitz guys are quick out of their stances and setup because they know who their man is before the ball is snapped.

Offensively Shanahan has to go into the offseason with the mindset of retooling his offense. To be fair it's not just Shanahan but the scheme is down around the league so to me I take that as an indication that defenses have caught up with it. I don't think it needs to be scrapped because I do think there is a lot of meat left on the bone with players not executing especially the offensive line. That's not a pass for Shanahan because the offensive line problems are his creation but we'd see a more productive offense with even a slight above average line.

So Shanahan really needs to do an autopsy of his offense and figure out where defenses have him nailed and to come up with counters for it.

My biggest fear as I've stated in the past is Shanahan fires the ST coach and runs everything back mostly untouched again thinking nothing major is wrong.

[CrimsonCrew]

My concern is that the excuse of injuries overshadows some of the very legitimate problems with this team. Yes, the injuries played a part, but this is still a playoff-caliber team even with the injuries we've experienced. We haven't played like that this year, and that goes pretty deep.

We have neglected both lines for years now, and thus have no real depth at any line position. That's why our interior OL can't hold up blocking and our DL can't stop the run.

We have remained loyal to players like Jake Brendel (and coaches like Schneider) despite years of struggles. The same is becoming true of Deebo, who has only had one kind of good game this season and has had several disastrous games dating back to last year.

Our defensive coaching is unoriginal and predictable. It worked when we were elite across the board, but it doesn't do our players any favors.

And our offense seems to have been largely figured out. We frequently end up in 3rd and long, we have no answers to blitzes.

Lots of changes need to be made, and I hope Shanahan and Lynch realize that and commit to it.

[Jikkle]

My concern is that the excuse of injuries overshadows some of the very legitimate problems with this team. Yes, the injuries played a part, but this is still a playoff-caliber team even with the injuries we've experienced. We haven't played like that this year, and that goes pretty deep.

We have neglected both lines for years now, and thus have no real depth at any line position. That's why our interior OL can't hold up blocking and our DL can't stop the run.

We have remained loyal to players like Jake Brendel (and coaches like Schneider) despite years of struggles. The same is becoming true of Deebo, who has only had one kind of good game this season and has had several disastrous games dating back to last year.

Our defensive coaching is unoriginal and predictable. It worked when we were elite across the board, but it doesn't do our players any favors.

And our offense seems to have been largely figured out. We frequently end up in 3rd and long, we have no answers to blitzes.

Lots of changes need to be made, and I hope Shanahan and Lynch realize that and commit to it.

Yeah my concern is they chalk things up to injuries and run it back mostly the same.

Offensively I just think we have the double whammy of having a poor offensive line and defenses countering what we want to do in the passing game.

I feel like the scheme for the run game is fine and just needs better offensive linemen to execute it but Kyle really needs to get into the lab for the passing game.

Defenses are using our blitz pickup rules against us, almost every bootleg Purdy instantly has a defender in his face, and defenses are running man because our WR can't get open consistently nor do we have the offensive line to block to allow them to get open.

Step 1 to me is the offensive line because this offense will always be a run-first offense and everything centers around effectively running the ball to set up everything else Kyle wants to do.

Step 2 is to figure out a counter to the counters against our passing attack. They really need a legit speed threat at WR and they need Aiyuk and Pearsall to be their guys to beat man coverage. I'm not quite down on Deebo as a lot of people but he's completely dependent on the scheme to get him open with space to run so if we do keep him Kyle is going to have to figure out ways to get him that open space he needs to thrive.

[wco81]

ESPN First Take discussed a scenario where the Bears would trade for Kyle Shanahan, to tutor Caleb Williams, who looks lost.

They noted previous big trades for coaches that teams made, like the Bucs gave the Raiders 2 first-round picks and 2 second-round picks and $8 million for Jon Gruden.

Hell start with that and it would be a great way to reload. Can send him Lynch too, who's a former Bus great.

[CrimsonCrew]

My concern is that the excuse of injuries overshadows some of the very legitimate problems with this team. Yes, the injuries played a part, but this is still a playoff-caliber team even with the injuries we've experienced. We haven't played like that this year, and that goes pretty deep.

We have neglected both lines for years now, and thus have no real depth at any line position. That's why our interior OL can't hold up blocking and our DL can't stop the run.

We have remained loyal to players like Jake Brendel (and coaches like Schneider) despite years of struggles. The same is becoming true of Deebo, who has only had one kind of good game this season and has had several disastrous games dating back to last year.

Our defensive coaching is unoriginal and predictable. It worked when we were elite across the board, but it doesn't do our players any favors.

And our offense seems to have been largely figured out. We frequently end up in 3rd and long, we have no answers to blitzes.

Lots of changes need to be made, and I hope Shanahan and Lynch realize that and commit to it.

Yeah my concern is they chalk things up to injuries and run it back mostly the same.

Offensively I just think we have the double whammy of having a poor offensive line and defenses countering what we want to do in the passing game.

I feel like the scheme for the run game is fine and just needs better offensive linemen to execute it but Kyle really needs to get into the lab for the passing game.

Defenses are using our blitz pickup rules against us, almost every bootleg Purdy instantly has a defender in his face, and defenses are running man because our WR can't get open consistently nor do we have the offensive line to block to allow them to get open.

Step 1 to me is the offensive line because this offense will always be a run-first offense and everything centers around effectively running the ball to set up everything else Kyle wants to do.

Step 2 is to figure out a counter to the counters against our passing attack. They really need a legit speed threat at WR and they need Aiyuk and Pearsall to be their guys to beat man coverage. I'm not quite down on Deebo as a lot of people but he's completely dependent on the scheme to get him open with space to run so if we do keep him Kyle is going to have to figure out ways to get him that open space he needs to thrive.

Re: the speed receiver, we theoretically have that already in Cowing. He ran a 4.38 at the combine, and plays that fast. One of my big hopes at this point in the season is that we give this kid more of a chance to show what he can do at the WR position. He had that 41-yard completion against the Chiefs that would have been a TD if the throw was better and has only one target since. That's absurd for an offense that is struggling to generate explosive plays.