Typical offensive roles for the 49ers are more of a suggestion than a rule. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has built a roster that’s full of multifaceted skill position players that allow San Francisco to deploy them in a variety of unconventional ways. Shanahan compared his offensive philosophy to another Bay Area juggernaut, the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors, while among the worst teams in the league this season, just went to the NBA Finals five consecutive years behind a ‘Strength in Numbers’ mantra where head coach Steve Kerr relied on a ball-movement offense and a deep rotation of bench players.
Shanahan compared the 49ers offense to those championship Warriors teams because of their versatility, and said it’s something he strived for even when he was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator.
“I remember saying in Atlanta even when we were there that I wanted our receiver group to be similar to the Warriors to where who knows who the starter is, they can all play,” Shanahan said. “Andre Iguodala, things like that, I think he wasn’t the starter and then he’s the Conference Finals or whatever it’s called, the NBA Championship, MVP, the seven games that mattered at the end. So, I mean, you think of stuff like that and that stuff, you’ve got an MVP, you’ve got a defensive MVP, guys who seem really not to care how it gets done. They all just go out there and ball and see where the weakness in the defense is, and wherever that ends up, that guy shoots and that’s a lot how I see offense.”
Shanahan was referring to 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, an All-Star caliber player who took a defense-centered bench role with the Warriors to help them maximize their rotations after spending much of his career as a scorer.
The versatility that made the Warriors dominant has driven the 49ers to within a win of their seventh trip to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco has accumulated a wealth of dynamic offensive personnel that allows them to distribute the ball to any of the eligible players from any position. It’s the philosophy that puts running back Raheem Mostert in the slot and wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the backfield to take a handoff on the same play. It’s why fullback Kyle Juszczyk is so valuable, and why George Kittle has become such a force as a pass catcher and in the run game. Keeping every offensive player ready is how wide receiver Kendrick Bourne posts 18 first downs and five touchdowns on just 30 receptions. They had three running backs go over 500 rushing yards, Samuel had 159 rushing yards, and the team’s 28 touchdown passes went to 13 different players.
The Warriors brought ‘positionless’ basketball to the fore, now Shanahan is doing the same in the NFL. All that’s left now are the championships.