• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

San Francisco Sports Today

San Francisco Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Baseball
    • A’s
    • Giants
  • Football
    • 49’ers
    • Raiders
  • Basketball
    • Kings
    • Warriers
  • Sharks
  • Earthquakes
  • Colleges
    • San Jose State
    • Stanford
    • University of California, Berkeley

The No. 1 priority on offense for the 49ers in 2025

June 9, 2025 by Niners Nation

Baltimore Ravens v San Francisco 49ers
Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images

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.

Filed Under: 49'ers

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • The No. 1 priority on defense for the 49ers in 2025 is obvious
  • Which 49ers player has the most to prove in 2025?
  • Amid retirement questions, Trent Williams is still looking to break records
  • Shanahan wants his QBs to ‘let it rip’ in practice and not worry about stats on social media
  • Game #70, Athletics vs Angels Game Thread

Categories

  • 49'ers
  • A's
  • Earthquakes
  • Giants
  • Kings
  • Raiders
  • San Jose State
  • Sharks
  • Stanford
  • Uncategorized
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Warriers

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Our Partners

All Sports

  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • San Francisco Examiner
  • The Mercury News
  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • Forgotten 5
  • Golden Gate Sports
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • San Francisco Giants
  • Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - San Francisco Giants
  • MLB Trade Rumors - A's
  • MLB Trade Rumors - Giants
  • White Cleat Beat
  • Around The Foghorn
  • Athletics Nation
  • McCovey Chronicles

Basketball

  • Golden State Warriors
  • Sacramento Kings
  • A Royal Pain
  • Amico Hoops - Kings
  • Amico Hoops - Warriors
  • Blue Man Hoop
  • Golden State Of Mind
  • Hoops Hype - Warriors
  • Hoops Hype - Kings
  • Hoops Rumors - Warriors
  • Hoops Rumors - Kings
  • Lets Go Warriors
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Golden State
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Sacramento
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Warriors
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Kings
  • Real GM - Warriors
  • Real GM - Kings
  • Sactown Royalty

Football

  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • 49ers Gab
  • Just Blog Baby
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors - San Francisco 49ers
  • NFL Trade Rumors - Las Vegas Raiders
  • Niners Nation
  • Niner Noise
  • Niners Wire
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors - 49ers
  • Pro Football Rumors - Raiders
  • Pro Football Talk - 49ers
  • Pro Football Talk - Raiders
  • Raiders Wire
  • Silver And Black Pride
  • Total 49ers

Hockey

  • Blades Of Teal
  • Fear The Fin
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

Soccer

  • Center Line Soccer
  • Last Word on Soccer
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • California Golden Blogs
  • College Sports Madness
  • College Football News
  • Rule Of Tree
  • Saturday Blitz
  • The Daily Californian
  • The Stanford Daily
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in