Originally posted by GetSomeRouteRunners:
Is there anyone in this fan base besides me who realizes that the 49ers lack any receivers who can separate from man coverage with actual route running?
I realize football fans don't do logic well, so let me explain something to you that you don't seem to be aware of.
Deebo Samuel didn't make the Pro Bowl last year because he's a great, good, or even average route runner. He made it because he's great after the catch. Period, the end. That's his entire game. He's a running back who catches the ball.
George Kittle is a great blocker and used to be great after the catch (he appears to have lost a step since all the injuries). Those are the things he is/was elite at, not separating from man coverage.
Jimmy isn't limiting the offense. He has been hitting guys on the stuff they're good at, and not on the stuff they're not.
Did you see the needle Jimmy had to thread to complete that 3rd and long to Aiyuk on the comeback? What goes unsaid there is how Aiyuk had ZERO separation on that play.
THAT is why Jimmy hasn't thrown much outside the numbers in his 49ers career. The receivers suck at those routes. Jimmy is excellent at throwing them, but the personnel doesn't fit that.
The best route runner on the team is Jennings, and that's really saying something, considering he's not exactly Isaac Bruce himself.
The passing game looked significantly better in 2019 when Emmanuel Sanders joined the team. That's the last time Jimmy had a guy who could run actual patterns.
All of this "there are so many weapons" crap ignores all of that. The 49ers have redundant niche players. That's not "stacked." Stacked is the 1989-1994 49ers.
Fair enough - but Aiyuk seperates, but then throttles down for his "zone" route that is called by the HC. They say Shannahan is hard on his receivers to be precise to what he calls - so a lot of this lack of separation is KS design issues - which the rest of the NFL has caught up with. Without McDaniels creativity, KS's bland plays AND play calling are getting exposed.
So it's a bit of both.
I personally think JG is putting the ball deeper with accuracy this year, and is generally pretty darn accurate. BUT he has tendencies we have all seen:
1. He throws late to the outside and deep down the seam usually
2. He throws into the wrong coverage sometimes - but all QBs do occasionally
3. BUT this is the killer - He makes a couple of completely incomprehensible plays a game that often lead to INTs or near INTs in key situations. This is the part the KS loathes - can cost you games - and goes up in probability the more throws he makes in critical situations.
