Kyle Shanahan is known to be one of the best offensive minds in the game of football today. He has had his San Francisco 49ers as Super Bowl contenders for most of his tenure, all the while enduring some of the worst injury luck possible.
NFL: Kyle Shanahan Gets Receivers Open At An Alarming Rate
That bad luck showed its ugly face during the 2022 NFL season. The starting quarterback for the 49ers was supposed to be Trey Lance, the young draft pick with high upside but little opportunities. But his sophomore season was cut short due to a season-ending injury, forcing San Francisco to turn to Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo’s health lasted well into the second half of the season, and then things got even worse. When he went down with a leg injury in Week 13, it was rookie 7th round draft pick Brock Purdy who was left on the roster.
insane kyle shanahan stat here. nearly double the NFL average. pic.twitter.com/IfQnyetJYH
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) June 11, 2023
But the team didn’t skip a beat. Purdy and the 49ers didn’t lose a regular season game the rest of the year, and cruised through the playoffs, en route to the NFC Championship Game. But things fell apart even further in Philadelphia when Purdy suffered an elbow injury and was forced to miss the rest of the game as the team scrambled to figure out who could play QB. The 49ers eventually lost.
But the unlucky finish does not diminish the accomplishments of the team and the coach. Despite the problems to the players at the team’s most important position, the 49ers were able to operate at the highest of levels. The success that San Francisco enjoyed was due in large part to the offensive scheme put in place by Shanahan, and it’s knack for getting players open.
There is a statistic that proves the dominance.
When looking at the quarterbacks in the NFL whose coaches made their jobs the easiest, Brock Purdy was the far and away leader. There is a stat that displays the QBs who had the most passes of 10+ yards in which their receiver had 3+ yards of separation (aka wide open).
McDaniel Continues Shanahan’s Ways In Miami
Dolphins QB coach Darrell Bevell, talking today about the timing of Miami’s offense and Tua’s deep ball, said this TD pass to Waddle “was about as good as the throws he’s made so far.“ pic.twitter.com/npCLuzoyUs
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) November 3, 2022
The league average is roughly 27%. Shanahan had Purdy throwing to open receivers 52% of the time, nearly double the NFL standard.
Shanahan’s influence continues when looking at the rest of the list. In second place is Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who threw to open receivers on 43% of his passes, and he is led by a Shanahan disciple. Mike McDaniel was one of the coaches working under Shanahan during his time in Cleveland, Atlanta, and San Francisco, and was said to have a huge hand in the schemes at each stop.
2022 was McDaniel’s first season as a head coach, and the Dolphins had one of the top offenses in the league despite their own quarterback injury issues.
In third place on the list is Patrick Mahomes, who is coaches by one of the known offensive masterminds in the game in Andy Reid.
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