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49ers film room: Breaking down WR Dante Pettis’ offensive fit

By Chris Wilson

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 30: Wide receiver John Ross #1 of the Washington Huskies is congratulated by wide receiver Dante Pettis #8 after scoring a touchdown against the Stanford Cardinal in the second quarter on September 30, 2016 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 30: Wide receiver John Ross #1 of the Washington Huskies is congratulated by wide receiver Dante Pettis #8 after scoring a touchdown against the Stanford Cardinal in the second quarter on September 30, 2016 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /
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49ers Film Room Dante Pettis
SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 16: Wide receiver Dante Pettis #8 of the Washington Huskies scores a touchdown in the second quarter against Johnny Johnson #17 of the Fresno State Bulldogs at Husky Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

Red-Zone Target

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Another area of concern for Shanahan is the 49ers’ 2017 red-zone offense.

Last season, San Francisco scored only 15 touchdowns through the air, which was the fourth lowest total in the NFL.

Thanks to the 49ers’ inability to score through the air in the red zone, kicker Robbie Gould led the league in field goals. Shanahan would rather his kicker lead the NFL in extra points, like Falcons kicker Matt Bryant did in 2016.

With the team’s recent red-zone inefficiency, many analysts and fans expected the 49ers to add a big-bodied red-zone threat for Garoppolo in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Instead, Lynch and Shanahan added the 6-foot-1 Pettis.

However, during his time at Washington, Pettis demonstrated that a receiver doesn’t necessarily need size to be a threat to score near the end zone. Pettis caught 22 touchdown passes in 26 games during his final two college seasons: