The 49ers spent much of 2025 doing the hard part well and the flashy part poorly.
Even with injuries piling up at quarterback and across the offensive skill group, San Francisco still finished sixth in EPA per play and third in success rate on offense. But the one area that kept them from looking like the kind of offense they’ve long wanted to be was explosive plays. The Niners ranked 21st in explosive play rate last season, with 80 explosive plays on 1,055 total snaps for a 7.58% rate, according to Sumer Sports.
That’s the number John Lynch zeroed in on as training camp opened Saturday.
Asked about the issue at a press conference, Lynch said:
“We’ve always been an explosive team and probably fell off there a little. And so, in your personnel you go attack that.
[WR] Mike Evans has been a tremendously explosive player. But I think the bigger approach has been collectively because explosives come in a lot of different shapes and sizes.
They come in the run game and we fell off there. The explosives weren’t there as much and so that’s all 11 on the field.
That’s your entire team and that’s what you emphasize. I think we spend a lot of time emphasizing that.
We did address our personnel. I love what we were able to get accomplished this offseason.
And now we’ve got to go to work and you’ve got to earn everything in this league. Explosives are no different.
And they are an important part of football, limiting them on defense and going out there and being an incredibly explosive team on offense and on special teams. We always focus on that, but there has been a heightened focus on that.”
The biggest swing factor is Brock Purdy. If he can stay healthy for a full 17-game regular season, San Francisco should have a much better chance to generate chunk plays than it did in a 2025 season that saw Mac Jones start eight games.
The pass game has some clear avenues for more pop. Mike Evans brings a proven downfield track record as a ball-dominant X receiver.
Ricky Pearsall, if healthy, adds another layer with his connection to Purdy and the big-play flashes he has shown at all three levels. The 49ers are also counting on free agent Christian Kirk and top draft pick De’Zhaun Stribling to help stretch the field and work both inside and outside.
The run game is a tougher puzzle.
San Francisco had only 29 explosive runs last season, and its 6.03% explosive run rate ranked 26th in the league. That was nowhere near the Baltimore Ravens, who led the NFL at 11.05%.
A lot will ride on Christian McCaffrey. He averaged 3.9 yards per carry in 2025, his lowest mark since 2020, and had just three runs of 20 yards or more.
If Kaelon Black or Jordan James can give the 49ers a dependable backup option and lighten McCaffrey’s load, that would help. But the reality is that neither is likely to take a major bite out of his workload on a regular basis.
The offensive line matters just as much. McCaffrey averaged only 2.3 yards before contact last season, below the league average of 2.5, a sign the 49ers need to create better lanes for him. With the interior of the line still carrying question marks, that group will have a major say in whether San Francisco becomes a more explosive offense in 2026.
The 49ers have clearly made the effort to address the issue. Whether it works may come down to health, and to a problem area that has been hanging around for a while.
In Other News...
49ers Safety Battle May Already Be Tilting In One Direction
Early in 49ers training camp, the safety picture is starting to take shape, and JiAyir Brown has been the clearest beneficiary so far. Brown has handled all the first-team reps at free safety, a sign he may be setting himself apart in the competition, and he also came up with an interception in Mondays session. It is still the first stretch of camp, but those are the kinds of snaps that tend to matter when coaches begin sorting out roles.
The other side of the equation remains less settled, with Malik Mustapha and Marquese Sigle rotating at strong safety while Brown stays planted on the back end. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris addressed the competition in broad terms, but he did not offer much in the way of clarity on how the starting jobs are lining up. For now, the 49ers at least appear to have one spot leaning in a direction, even if the full answer is still in progress. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Add Defender Who Could Stir A Familiar Debate On Defense
The 49ers have added another piece to their defensive mix, signing former Dolphins pass rusher Quinton Bell to a one-year contract. A seventh-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Bell has bounced from Miami to Atlanta and back into the market as a player whose value has always been tied as much to his athletic profile as to any one fixed position.
What makes Bell interesting in San Francisco is the same thing that has followed him around the league: he has been used mostly as an edge rusher and linebacker, but his background invites bigger questions about how far a coaching staff can stretch a defender who can move around. The 49ers have often leaned into that kind of flexibility, and Bell arrives with the sort of versatility that can open a familiar debate about where exactly he fits best. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Fans Are Livid Over What Stayed Hidden About Shanahan
The latest flare-up around Kyle Shanahan has less to do with the 49ers on-field plans than with how information moves in the NFLs slowest stretches. ESPN insider Adam Schefter said the team kept the incident private during a quiet period on the league calendar, a reminder that not every story breaks on the same timetable as a roster move or injury update.
49ers fans have not been interested in that explanation, and plenty have aimed their frustration at Schefter for the delay. Some have gone further, arguing that he may have held back to protect access to the team, which is exactly the kind of tension that keeps resurfacing whenever a reporters role as a gatekeeper collides with the publics right to know. [Read more 🡒]