San Francisco 49ers: 3 biggest remaining questions following the 2018 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Problems in the Red Zone?
Last year, the 49ers finished 27th in red-zone touchdown efficiency, finding end-zone paydirt just over 47 percent of the time within opponents’ 25-yard lines.
This stat wasn’t helped by the fact the Niners’ crop of wide receivers were the shortest in the NFL in 2017.
San Francisco did add a wide receiver in the draft, Washington’s Dante Pettis, in Round 2. But he’s 6-foot-0 and relies more on his route-running abilities than “go up and get it” strength. UDFA wideout Steven Dunbar (6-foot-3) is more of the prototypical red-zone threat. But considering how deep the Niners’ receiving crop is right now, it’s not likely he makes the 53-man roster.
There’s good news, though.
Kyle Shanahan’s offense isn’t built on jump strength and 50-50 balls. He schemes to get guys open, using various crossing routes, picks and other forms of misdirection to allow receivers to create space.
It helps many of those wideouts have speed too.
And as Fourth and Nine’s Dylan DeSimone put it, Shanahan’s mind is the red-zone X-factor:
That sounds good, in theory, although we’ll have to see if last year’s trend in the red zone comes to an end.