Injuries derailed the explosive San Francisco 49ers offense in 2024 with injuries to Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Williams.
Despite the clear step backwards this group took last year, one NFL analyst still believes this is a 49ers’ offense is a top 10 group entering the 2025 NFL season.
49ers’ Offense Barely Sneaks Inside Top 10 of PFSN’s Rankings
Kyle Soppe of Pro Football & Sports Network felt a bit somber when ranking the talented San Francisco 49ers offense at ninth overall entering the upcoming 2025 NFL season in a recent article.
Soppe wrote, “The San Francisco 49ers were the league’s best offense in this metric back in 2023, but injuries derailed some of what they wanted to do in 2024. Gone is Deebo Samuel Sr., but this remains a Kyle Shanahan-led offense with plenty of depth and now a well-compensated quarterback who may take on more responsibilities when it comes to winning ball games as opposed to not losing them.”
The departure of Deebo Samuel feels noteworthy, but perhaps isn’t as devastating as it would’ve been a couple seasons ago. Samuel’s 51 receptions last season was his lowest mark since the 2020 campaign, which is even more condemning when you take into consideration Brandon Aiyuk’s season ending injury.
Speaking of Aiyuk, the Arizona State product never looked right after missing some practice time during a negotiation process that was lengthy.
If Aiyuk getting hurt and Deebo’s production dropping off wasn’t concerning enough, then there is former All-Pro RB Christian McCaffrey to discuss too.
McCaffrey was never truly healthy and played just four games before shutting it down for the season.
McCaffrey is 29 years old and has dealt with numerous injuries over his NFL career, but is still just one year removed from over 2,000 total yards and 21 total touchdowns in 2023.
Naturally, this all had some sort of impact on QB Brock Purdy.
Fortunately for the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy still got his bag with a massive $265 million extension this offseason.
Yet, Purdy did appear to finally struggle under center at moments for the first time in his NFL career.
The offense still has plenty of top tier talent with McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Trent Williams, but the WR position could be crucial to this offense returning to an elite group in 2025.
Who Is Going to Emerge at WR for the San Francisco 49ers in 2025?
Since Aiyuk is far from a guarantee to play in the 2025 season opener, the biggest concern for this offense feels like the WR position.
Ricky Pearsall was great considering he suffered a gun shot wound to the chest earlier than calendar year, but is still a bit of unknown as NFL receiver entering year two.
Jauan Jennings had a breakout year when pressed into an expanded role in 2024 with 77 receptions for 975 yards and six scores, but has just one quality year of production through his first four seasons in the NFL.
The 49ers’ offense may have some question marks entering the year, but doubting Kyle Shanahan feels like a risky venture.
Soppe concluded, “Don’t sleep on San Francisco after a down year.”
If Brock Purdy simply had a down year amidst an injury-plagued year in San Francisco, then a bounce-back year for the 49ers’ offense isn’t all that farfetched.
