San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan Should Expand Surprising Aggressiveness In 2023

Kyle Shanahan has developed a reputation as arguably the NFL’s pre-eminent modern-day play-caller, but the San Francisco 49ers head coach is not known for being overly aggressive.

If anything, he is head coach who has often been criticized for being overly conservative. However, that assessment of his tendencies in clutch situations is not consistent with his decision-making in the most important area of the field last year.

According to Warren Sharp of SharpFootball, Shanahan was one of the more aggressive coaches in the NFL on fourth down in field goal range in 2022.

Indeed, the 49ers went for it on fourth down inside the opponent’s 35-yard line 12 times last season. That amounted to them going for it on 29 percent of such fourth downs, good enough for 10th in the NFL.

The 49ers were successful on seven of those attempts, their conversion rate of 58 percent putting San Francisco ninth in the league.

Such numbers fly in the face of Shanahan’s status as a coach all too willing to turn the ball over to his special teams. Inside the 35, at least, Shanahan was willing to lean on an offense blessed with a plethora of talent at the skill positions and an offensive line that outperformed expectations to put the ball in the endzone.

Still, according to nflindex.com, the 49ers elected to punt or settled for a field goal on fourth down with under four yards to go 22 times last season.

Electing to go for it on fourth down on the fringes of the red zone could be considered an easy decision to make when a coach has the likes of Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk at his disposal.

What more want to see from Shanahan is aggressiveness on fourth down when the 49ers are just inside opposition territory. San Francisco’s total of 17 fourth down attempts was tied for the seventh-fewest in the league.

The 49ers unquestionably have the talent to be more ambitious on fourth down and reap the rewards. Yet, having this year spent a third-round pick on a kicker in Jake Moody who – per Wolverine Digest – made 17 field goals of 40 yards or more and converted a 59-yarder in college, hopes of Shanahan showing increased aggressiveness in more neutral field situations may be misplaced.

Moody will be regarded as another weapon on whom the 49ers can rely to ensure even more drives end in points in 2023. The 49ers were seventh in points per drive, per Football Outsiders, last season.

But the Niners blossomed into one of the NFL’s most potent and efficient attacks down the stretch in 2022 because of how McCaffrey blended into a star-studded offense following a midseason trade from the Carolina Panthers.

Shanahan masterfully utilized his substantial offensive weaponry to help get the 49ers to the brink of the Super Bowl. Even with a highly drafted kicker on the roster, the Niners’ skill-position depth and previous success in such situations inside the 35 should embolden a coach of Shanahan’s play-calling acumen to eschew punts and field goals more regularly as they once again attempt to go all the way this coming season.