Injuries cost the 49ers in the red zone last season. They can’t afford to come away with so few touchdowns in 2025.
We are in the dog days of the offseason of the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers have a couple of mandatory minicamp practices this week, but after that, we won’t hear from anybody for a month and a half.
The Niners are in a position to bounce back from a 6-win season thanks to a last-place schedule. However, they still have to go out and reconnect with their roots. Today, we’ll look at how they can do that on the offensive side of the ball.
Offense – Get back to scoring touchdowns in the red area
Despite several meaningful injuries throughout the offense last season, the 49ers were second in the NFL in explosive plays last season. The only team with more had Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
Moving the ball was not an issue and will never be as long as Kyle Shanahan is calling the shots. San Francisco ranked tenth in red zone attempts in 2024, averaging 3.7 attempts per game. They were at 3.8 during their impressive 2023 campaign. The difference? The offense scored a touchdown in the red area at a 57 percent clip in 2024, compared to a ridiculous 68 percent in 2023.
The 49ers didn’t have an identity once they were inside of the 20 last season. That’s where missing Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk handcuffed the offense. McCaffrey has a nose for the end zone, while Aiyuk can win on any route from anywhere.
In 2023, Aiyuk caught six of his nine targets inside of the 20 for five touchdowns. The Niners couldn’t replace that kind of production last season. Jauan Jennings led the wideouts in red zone targets last season. However, he only caught eight of those. Deebo Samuel was efficient in the red area, but he only averaged five yards per reception last season inside the 20.
McCaffrey led the NFL in carries and yards inside the 20 two seasons ago. For whatever reason, Jordan Mason could not get the job done when the 49ers needed him the most.
Are the 49ers red zone woes fixed just because they’ll have their two best players back at some point in 2025? Perhaps. It bumps every player down the totem pole, and the threat of the run makes each eligible more dangerous since the defense needs to focus on McCaffrey.
Speaking of threats, McCaffrey had 17 red zone targets in 2023. He caught 13 of those for five touchdowns. Last season, between Isaac Guerendo, Mason, Kyle Juszczyk, and Patrick Taylor, the offense totaled six red zone targets to its running backs. Going back to their identity, the Niners lost a big chunk of that in McCaffrey’s absence.
Shanahan did lean on George Kittle more in the red zone last season. He had 13 red zone targets in 2023. That number jumped up to 21 in 2023. Kittle had 18 receptions for eight touchdowns, averaging 7.5 yards per reception. It seems simple. Throw 85 the ball, and good things happen.
Now, if only the 49ers could find a way to maximize Kittle, McCaffrey, and Aiyuk in 2025, the offense should return closer to the elite level they performed at in 2023.