Chart shows 49ers’ stunning struggles in offensive stat they’re known for

Chart shows 49ers’ stunning struggles in offensive stat they’re known for originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

If there is one thing the 49ers notoriously have done well in the Kyle Shanahan Era, it’s accumulate yards after the catch.

San Francisco, with its plethora of offensive weapons including running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle and wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings, has been so good in recent years at accumulating additional yardage through the air, whether it’s due to Shanahan scheming them up in open space or their physical style of play leading to extra yards.

However, six games into the 2024 NFL season, the 49ers as a team amazingly rank dead last in Yards After Catch percentage (YAC%), with 32.1 percent of their total yards through the air coming after the catch point.

This means, of quarterback Brock Purdy’s 1,572 passing yards — second most in the NFL behind Seattle’s Geno Smith (1,660) — only 538 have come after the catch. San Francisco’s 538 yards after the catch is the seventh-fewest in the league and its 4.4 yards after catch per completion is the third-fewest.

For context, the 49ers had 2,209 yards after the catch in 2023, which was 50 percent of the team’s 4,384 total passing yards.

While the steep drop-off through six games this season might be concerning, it’s also a byproduct of Purdy targeting and completing passes to deeper areas of the field this season, which oftentimes leads to less separation for receivers after the catch.

It also doesn’t help that San Francisco has been without McCaffrey, the league’s best pass-catching running back, through six games this season.

That’s not to say these numbers aren’t at least a little concerning, but it’s fair to assume things will progress toward the mean for the 49ers throughout the remainder of the season.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast