Making the Other 49ers Pieces Fit
The Niners may not exactly be up to par when it comes to assuming their running backs will be a major factor in the passing game.
First, pass protection wasn’t the best for San Francisco a year ago. Football Outsiders ranked the 49ers’ offensive line 30th in pass blocking in 2016. And it’s a unit that will largely stay the same this season.
Veteran wide receiver Pierre Garcon is easily the team’s best route-runner, and fellow free-agent pickup Marquise Goodwin has the speed to put defenses on their heels. These factors help, but this receiving tandem is a far cry from Jones and Sanu.
To gauge quarterback Brian Hoyer’s fit, we can hope he can generate the same pass-catching rapport with his tailbacks, as was the case with the Cleveland Browns — when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator — in 2014.
Take a look at the receiving numbers and catch percentages:
| Game | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Player | Age | Pos | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% ▼ |
| 28 | Terrance West | 23 | rb | 14 | 13 | 11 | 64 | 5.8 | 1 | 11 | 0.8 | 4.6 | 84.6% |
| 44 | Ben Tate | 26 | rb | 8 | 12 | 9 | 60 | 6.7 | 0 | 23 | 1.1 | 7.5 | 75.0% |
| 34 | Isaiah Crowell | 21 | rb | 16 | 14 | 9 | 87 | 9.7 | 0 | 19 | 0.6 | 5.4 | 64.3% |
| 48 | Ray Agnew | 23 | FB | 12 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | 12 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 33.3% |
| Team Total | 25.9 | 16 | 499 | 274 | 3678 | 13.4 | 12 | 81 | 17.1 | 229.9 | |||
| Opp Total | 16 | 335 | 3592 | 10.7 | 22 | 20.9 | 224.5 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/29/2017.
Most of these numbers were from Hoyer, who started 13 games on the season and finished the year with a 55.3 completion percentage.
Based off these stats, it’s safe to say running backs provided a much-needed security blanket in an otherwise talent-lacking Cleveland offense.