2024 has been a mediocre year for the San Francisco 49ers' offense.
Hardly anything has gone right for them. Most of the issues with the offense stem from Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan. They are the two key factors that contribute the most to the offense having success or not. Neither of them has been performing well this season. At least, not consistently.
Purdy has regressed from last season where he ended up as an MVP finalist. He's far from that this season. One factor contributing to Purdy's regression is the lack of play-action passes. That is usually a staple in the 49ers' offense. Yet, for some reason, there hasn't been much of it.
Purdy has used play action on just 18.9 percent of his dropbacks this season, the lowest rate in his three-season career. Last season, Purdy ran play-action nearly 23 percent of the time. There's been more straight-up dropback passing from Purdy than ever seen before. It's bizarre to see. It's almost like Shanahan wants to challenge him to be that type of quarterback.
That's part of why the 49ers' offense has been mediocre. Play-action isn't been utilized enough or correctly. Purdy has shown this season to have great success running it. It would be understandable to refrain from using it if he wasn't having much success but he is.
Purdy has averaged the third-most yards per attempt (11.1) and generated the fifth-most EPA per dropback (+0.38) on play-action passes this season, per Next Gen Stats. Shanahan isn't doing Purdy any favors. He executes these plays well, yet refuses to go to them more often.
Anytime Shanahan has been asked about the lack of play-action, he just says some fluff about how the defense is playing them. I'm not saying play action should be used at a frequent rate. That would lessen the efficiency of the play but an uptick in the usage would be beneficial.
Play-action plays are meant to be easy layup throws for quarterbacks. This can get Purdy into a rhythm and have him feeling good about decisions. One area Purdy has regressed the most is his decision-making. He's forcing throws that aren't there way too much leading to interceptions or drive-killers.
At least with play-action, it can get Purdy starting to feel confident. The same can be said about screen passes. Those are also significantly lacking from the 49ers' offense. It's bizarre to see how simple the passing offense the 49ers have been this year and it's playing a part in Purdy's regression.
