How 49ers’ Tremendous Bowl loss ended in Pearsall draft variety at the start gave the impression on NBC Sports activities Bay Space
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ sudden variety Thursday night time had the whole lot to do with what was obvious to everybody of their Tremendous Bowl loss.
San Francisco had one of the crucial best offenses within the NFL remaining season. Quarterback Brock Purdy set the franchise report with 4,280 passing yards.
With Purdy’s accuracy and trainer Kyle Shanahan’s scheme, the 49ers wolfed zone coverages.
However their extensive receivers weren’t as automated when it got here to defeating one-on-one matchups. The 49ers’ collection of Florida extensive receiver Ricky Pearsall with the No. 31 general select on Thursday night time was once an immediate reaction towards fixing that factor.
“They have been simply sticky around the board after they performed guy protection,” Purdy stated following the 49ers’ 25-22 time beyond regulation loss to the Kansas Town Chiefs in Tremendous Bowl LVIII.
Kansas Town’s cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed, specifically, put the clamps at the 49ers’ pass-catchers. McDuffie broke up 3 Purdy cross makes an attempt.
Deebo Samuel is among the 49ers’ best offensive threats. However he’s referred to as a receiver who’s simpler at discovering holes in opposition to zone coverages. Within the Tremendous Bowl, Purdy centered Samuel 11 occasions and the pair teamed up for simply 3 completions totaling 33 yards.
Brandon Aiyuk had six passes thrown his means. He had 3 receptions for 49 yards. The workforce’s 3rd receiver, Jauan Jennings, who is understood to be one of the crucial workforce’s higher choices in opposition to guy protection, had 4 catches on 5 objectives for 42 yards and a landing.
The 49ers gave the impression shocked by means of the top quantity of guy protection that Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up with a purpose to decelerate Purdy and the passing recreation.
Purdy, who finished 69.4 p.c of his cross makes an attempt all through the common season, attached on 23 of 38 passes (60.5 p.c) for 255 yards with one landing and no interceptions.
This is the reason the 49ers went with Pearsall within the first spherical of the draft, reasonably than addressing wishes within the defensive backfield or the offensive line. San Francisco was once proper to suppose it’ll see extra guy protection one day.
Pearsall has excellent velocity and athleticism whilst proceeding to paintings at the nuances of route-running and growing separation in opposition to all coverages.
“Simply being a receiver, it’s important to be actually excellent at getting open and catching the ball,” Pearsall stated. “The ones are the 2 maximum essential issues I feel I do an excellent task. I feel I am elite at each the ones issues, at the beginning.
“The issues that separate me, I think like, is my aggressive spirit and the way I compete on a day-in and day-out foundation and simply how detailed I’m as a receiver too. As neatly relating to being disciplined in my routes and even simply off the sector, being disciplined in my on a regular basis behavior.”
The 49ers’ collection of Pearsall was once sudden as a result of his identify was once hardly attached to the workforce. San Francisco met with him on the Senior Bowl. After that, there was once no touch with him, as they it seems that didn’t wish to ship any alerts in their intentions.
Pearsall stated he was once now not shocked he was once selected within the first spherical of the draft, however he was once now not anticipating the 49ers to be the workforce that referred to as.
Unbeknownst to everybody outdoor the construction, Pearsall was once tabbed because the extensive receiver who are compatible absolute best in Shanahan’s gadget. The 49ers decided Pearsall was once your best option to stay the offense evolving with Purdy at quarterback.
“Whether or not he was once outdoor, within, both receiver, all 3 of the positions, he can separate down the sector, he can separate beneath,” Shanahan defined. “He’s were given actually excellent arms, highly intelligent, rather well advanced.
“I assume I might name it a health club rat or one thing as a result of you’ll be able to simply see he is labored on his routes, installed a large number of hours as a result of you’ll be able to see it on tape and there may be actually not anything he can not do. He can are compatible in no matter function based totally off the opposite guys.”