How 49ers’ ‘positionless’ offense will affect the 2019 roster?

The San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan are creating a “positionless” offense where every player is versatile and can line up anywhere on the field. Niner Noise tries to predict how that’ll affect the roster.

If you have been in the Bay Area rooting for the San Francisco 49ers, you have seen the Golden State Warriors revolutionize the NBA with “positionless” basketball, where a taller player (typically a power forward) can be a point guard and a smaller player can be a center.

Well, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan must have seen something across the Bay he liked.

The moves the 49ers took, all influenced by coach Shanahan, point towards the creation of a “positionless offense,” probably in an effort to combat offensive ineptitude last year. San Francisco’s offense last year was slightly below average, per the stats, ranking 21st in total points and 16th in total yards.

For a team with only four wins and used its backup and third-string quarterbacks for the majority of the season, that seems respectable. But given the sheer ability Shanahan has, it leaves most fans wanting for more firepower.

So the 49ers decided to embrace the “mad scientist” in him by giving him weapons on top of weapons.

Running back Tevin Coleman initially seemed like Jerick McKinnon insurance. Yet after McKinnon stayed on the roster with his high salary, Coleman’s role seems a little murkier. In the NFL Draft, the 49ers selected both Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd, a sizable investment into the wide receiver room. The Niners also signed veteran wideout Jordan Matthews to a low-risk deal, but yet again, they added more talent to the roster. Finally, the 49ers selected Kaden Smith and signed Levine Toilolo to add to the tight end room.

All these moves, coupled with the strengths on the 49ers roster, create a whole new issue for the front office: who to keep.

That’s where the whole “positionless” offense comes into play.

Typically, a NFL team will keep three running backs, maybe a fullback, six wide receivers and three tight ends. That comes out to around 13 roster spots; it can vary, but for the purpose of this discussion, we’ll keep it locked at 13. Now, the 49ers have four running backs, a fullback, eight wide receivers and four tight ends. This comes around to 17 players.

Now, under a normal offense, this wouldn’t be an issue. But with the type of players Shanahan signed, he now has the roster flexibility to make some interesting choices. So first, let’s go through and figure out exactly which players can slot in at which positions before seeing how the offense, as a whole, will shape up.

What a “positionless” offense means

So, I’ve been going on and on about this positionless offense, but it’s time to really dig into what I mean.

Football, like all sports, is based off matchups. It’s why 6-foot-5 wide receivers or players with top-end speed are typically players who make big impacts on games.

San Francisco 49ers

But there are other, more-nuanced matchups that come from positions.

For example, when you watch a football game, you typically see a cornerback matched up on a wide receiver. But when a tight end lines out wide, defenses usually counter with a linebacker, who’s too slow, or a corner/safety who’s too small. Same thing applies when a running back lines out wide, or when a wide receiver can enter the backfield. These types of matchups are part of the reason why Kyle Juszczyk is so impactful as a fullback.

Now, as Kyle Madson of Niners Wire laid out:

"“Positionless” is the phrase du jour for describing what the 49ers are building on offense. They’re stocking up on players who allow them to vary their play calls and formations without ever changing the personnel. That layer of unpredictability is potentially deadly in a league where opposing coaches feast on tendencies."

With this new setup for the 49ers, Kyle Shanahan can go uptempo and never have the same formation the entire drive.

For example, a formation with Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida, George Kittle and Juszczyk in one play could be 31 personnel (three running backs, one tight end) and in another play, be in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end), so on and so forth.

What this essentially does is force the matchup issue. If the Niners run out with this player grouping, teams would most likely counter with a run-heavy defense. That’s a win for the 49ers offense, before the play even begins.

The addition of Jalen Hurd furthers this idea. A player who’s as tall as a tight end, used to play running back in college and was drafted at wide receiver is exactly the matchup nightmare the 49ers wanted. Running backs can play wide receiver, wide receivers can play running back, it creates a new way to build a roster.

Roster implications

So now we understand exactly what a “positionless” offense is, and how the 49ers aim to use it. That leaves us to the most important part, who to keep on the roster.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, the 49ers have seventeen qualified players, per my estimation,  for around 13 spots. At running back, there’s Jerick McKinnon, Matt Breida, Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert. At wide receiver, Dante Pettis, Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd, Marquise Goodwin, Kendrick Bourne, Jordan Matthews, Richie James and Trent Taylor all have a shot to get a job. And at tight end, the Niners have George Kittle, Kaden Smith, Garrett Celek and Levine Toilolo. Finally, they have the irreplaceable Kyle Juszczyk.

The Locks

Obviously Kittle and Juszczyk will be locks, both of them reaching the Pro Bowl the last year. Pettis, Samuel and Hurd have to be considered locks, given the draft-capital investment in them. And for running backs, Breida’s inexpensive contract and age would make it completely idiotic to cut him, rendering him another lock.

That gives us six players out of a possible 13 spots. But this was the easy part. Now things get tricky.

The Others

Even though I didn’t list them as locks, both McKinnon and Coleman seem as safe bets to make the roster. McKinnon’s contract got partially guaranteed in April, and Coleman was signed this past offseason to a two-year deal, so I don’t see a reason they wouldn’t make the cut.

That’s about it when it comes to safe bets, which means the 49ers have five roster spots to fill out from the remaining players.

Mostert would seem to be an easy cut, but his special teams ability as well as the versatility of McKinnon and Coleman make it a tougher sell. At wide receiver, Goodwin may not have the same role he once had, but his top-end speed makes him a valuable part to the position group.

And from there, “positionless” offense makes its impact. Both Coleman and McKinnon have the receiving savvy to play in the slot, and Coleman actually mentioned how Shanahan will be using the running backs in different ways:

Coleman and McKinnon both fit the mold of slot receivers rather than the Z or X position, which has a large effect on the wide receiver group. Out of the four receivers left, two of them, Bourne and Matthews, have the ability to play on the outside, given their size. Both have also played exceptionally in OTAs, as Peter Panacy shows here.

That makes the roster construction a little different. You would typically assume one of Bourne and Matthews would make the roster, while either James or Taylor, a slot receiver, would be the other. Well, now Shanahan can keep the size because he has his slot receivers in the running back room.

You’ll also see we now only have one spot remaining, which would be the backup tight end. Who this player is isn’t as important, though my money is on Smith. Rather, the 49ers were able to keep an extra running back, and special teams ace, because of the versatility they have. Need a three-tight end set, Hurd or Juszczyk can fill in.

Now, training camp will be the final indication for how the roster shakes out. But players aren’t just competing with guys in their position group. They’re competing with everyone on the roster. A tight end can’t just beat out a tight end; they have to beat out some wide receivers and a running back.