3 stats 49ers must improve upon in Week 3 vs. Packers
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: 49ers must get other pass-catchers involved, not just Deebo Samuel
It’s great to know San Francisco currently boasts the NFL’s leading receiver, Deebo Samuel, whose 282 yards through the air has been quite the accomplishment.
True, the Packers defense lacks a pass rush and is full of holes at the second and third levels, suggesting Samuel could have yet another big game in Week 3. But to be truly successful on third downs, the times where Samuel is likely to be blanketed, Jimmy Garoppolo will have to rely on his secondary and tertiary options a lot more than he has.
So far, Samuel’s 282 yards have accounted for 56.4 percent of the 49ers’ total passing offense this season.
That’s a lot. Probably unsustainable, too.
But what’s more revealing is just how limited Garoppolo’s other weapons have been, as shown in the chart below:
| Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Player | Age | Pos | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% | Y/Tgt |
| 19 | Deebo Samuel | 25 | wr | 20 | 15 | 282 | 18.8 | 1 | 79 | 7.5 | 141.0 | 75.0% | 14.1 |
| 85 | George Kittle | 28 | te | 9 | 8 | 95 | 11.9 | 0 | 35 | 4.0 | 47.5 | 88.9% | 10.6 |
| 81 | Trent Sherfield | 25 | 6 | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 1 | 18 | 1.5 | 16.0 | 50.0% | 5.3 | |
| 15 | Jauan Jennings | 24 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 1 | 11 | 1.0 | 8.5 | 100.0% | 8.5 | |
| 11 | Brandon Aiyuk | 23 | wr | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 50.0% | 3.0 |
| 18 | Mohamed Sanu | 32 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 50.0% | 3.5 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 9/22/2021.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s absence from the game plan has already been a storyline, while tight end George Kittle‘s slowish start is a small but noticeable concern.
At any rate, Garoppolo can’t simply rely upon Samuel to be the lone reliable option in the receiving game, and it would serve the 49ers well to ensure others, such as Kittle and Aiyuk, wind up having a significant impact on a national stage.
The Niners and Packers kick off on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 8:20 p.m. ET.
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