© Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Part of Kyle Shanahan’s acumen is maximizing different styles of quarterbacks and masking their flaws. If there’s a short list of coaches you’d want calling your offense after losing your franchise quarterback for the season, Shanahan would be included.
C.J. Beathard and Jimmy Garoppolo are evidently not the same player. That much became clear when Garoppolo won all five of his starts after Beathard won just one of his five starts last season. The 49ers lost by an average of 18.5 points with Beathard under center. His 54.9 percent completion rate was the second-worst in the league.
One of the most impressive parts of last year’s transformation was Shanahan leading Garoppolo to success despite his limited knowledge of a complex playbook. Shanahan’s creativity will be tested once again this year, with Garoppolo’s torn ACL sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Beathard is the starter moving forward. Shanahan seems to have plenty of confidence in the 24-year-old quarterback.
“C.J. is as tough and fearless as any quarterback I’ve ever been around,” Shanahan said Monday. “He’s got the arm talent to make every throw. He’s extremely smart. I know he’s the type of guy that I know our team believes in, also.”
Here is how Shanahan may tailor the offense to both Beathard’s and his teammates’ strengths.
Lean on Kyle Juszczyk
Shanahan uses 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end, and two receivers) more than any other NFL coach. That second running back is usually two-time Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Implementing him consistently draws an extra defender into the box, opening up the passing game and giving the 49ers creative options with play-action and misdirection.
Juszczyk played nearly 36 percent of snaps last year, which comfortably led all NFL fullbacks. Through three games this year, he has played a whopping 60 percent of snaps.
Juszczyk is Shanahan’s pawn that is moved and rotated all over the field. He typically draws up a play for Juszczyk when the 49ers need an easy gain or momentum boost — which sounds paradoxical for a fullback.
Last week, in San Francisco’s 38-27 loss at Kansas City, Juszczyk scored San Francisco’s first touchdown. The 49ers had just converted on fourth and one in Chiefs’ territory. One play later, Juszczyk was sent in motion to the 49ers’ line. He dragged across the play, disguising as a blocker, then looped out when Garoppolo faked the handoff. He hit Juszczyk for a wide-open, 35-yard touchdown to put the 49ers on the board.
Last year, in Beathard’s lone win over the New York Giants in Week 10, Juszczyk had five catches, which tied his season-high, for 27 yards. He played 62 percent of snaps, his most of the season. Beathard got in a groove by finding Juszczyk for easy gains.
Typically, when he hits a big play, the 49ers offense takes off.
Establish the run, which opens up play-action
San Francisco’s formidable run game helped enable Juszczyk’s touchdown last Sunday.
This year, the 49ers rank second in the NFL in rushing with 458 yards and 5.6 yards per attempt. They have gained 23 first downs on rush plays, the fifth-most in the league. Matt Breida’s 209 rush yards on first down, and 9.5 yards per carry in those situations, are tops in the league.
The running game should help take pressure off Beathard. Three of San Francisco’s starting offensive linemen — center Weston Richburg, right guard Mike Person, and right tackle Mike McGlinchey — are new to Shanahan’s system. Richburg and McGlinchey particularly have been impressive. The 49ers are gaining a league-best 4.9 yards per carry before contact.
With Breida and Alfred Morris, the 49ers have been more committed to establishing run this year. They have run the ball on 48 percent of plays. Last season, it was 40 percent. The 49ers ranked 21st in rushing in 2017.
When Beathard was inserted into the lineup, he was playing from behind the majority of the time, forcing the 49ers to throw. In his Week-10 win, however, they started seven of their nine offensive drives with a run.
Shanahan’s play-actions calls are so well-designed that the first option is consistently open. That lessened the stress on Beathard, who was generally a tad slow to get the ball out as a rookie, in his lone professional victory. He was able to step up in the pocket and rip throws without surveying several progressions.
One of Beathard’s biggest completions was executed via another terrific play-action design. In the third quarter, on second and seven, Beathard found former 49ers receiver Louis Murphy wide open for a 40-yard gain. Marquise Goodwin ran a “fly” route upfield, pulling the safety and exposing the middle of the field.
Beathard’s most efficient performance came in that Week-10 win, completing 19 of his 25 throws. For the only time in his five starts, the 49ers ran the ball more than they passed.
Expect more of this savvy misdirection from Shanahan, who has no problem running play-action on four or five consecutive plays.
Taking more shots downfield
If Beathard holds the advantage over Garoppolo in one category, it’s the deep ball.
According to NFL’s NextGen stats, Beathard was better than the average NFL quarterback on two of 12 categorized throws in 2017: deep-middle and intermediate-left. He was very accurate on both.
Garoppolo, comparatively, was below-average on every deep throw in 2017, but he was terrific on most short throws.
Beathard’s most memorable touchdown of 2017 showed off his arm strength.
On third and eight, in the second quarter of San Francisco’s Week-10 win, Beathard ran a seven-step drop. Former 49ers running back Carlos Hyde picked up a big block, and Beathard launched the ball 55 yards downfield to the streaking Goodwin. Kendrick Bourne pulled the safety over the middle, leaving Goodwin with single-coverage. He never broke stride. The 83-yard touchdown was San Francisco’s longest play of the season.
These home-run plays lessen the onus on Beathard to put together long drives. It would not be surprising if the 49ers offense is more quick-hitting than methodical in the near future.
The Dante Pettis addition has supplied the 49ers with another downfield threat to complement Goodwin. Pettis has just three catches so far this season, but he has turned them into 96 yards.
In the preseason opener, Beathard hit Pettis for a 53-yard gain.
One week later against Houston, Pettis beat his defender on a double-move, but Beathard overthrew him.
The preseason can be misleading because teams use their base concepts without diving deep into the playbook. Beathard struggled immensely this preseason (he converted one of his 14 drives into touchdowns), though it’s important to note he was playing with second-stringers.
Bottom line
Shanahan can alleviate pressure from Beathard by simplifying his tasks. The 49ers head coach is adept at keeping the defense off-balance, from play-actions, to misdirection, to going up-tempo to jumpstart the offense. We may see the 49ers, which rank 14th in the NFL in seconds per play, push the pace a bit more with Beathard.
He should, however, be able to handle more in his second year in the system.
Beathard has a better roster surrounding him this time around, including an improved offensive line. He had just 2.6 seconds to throw on average in 2017 and was sacked 17 times in five starts. He was hit an astounding 16 times in one game.
The pass protection has been slightly better this year, giving Garoppolo 2.73 seconds to throw, the 14th-best mark in the league. But the biggest improvement has been in the run game, which Shanahan will lean on, just as he did throughout the second half of San Francisco’s 11-point loss last Sunday.
There is reason to expect improvement, even if it’s incremental, from Beathard moving forward. One of the biggest reasons: Shanahan’s play-calling.