​Kyle Shanahan’s dependence on the run could be approaching a tipping point. San Francisco’s disappointing 2025 rushing efficiency is one reason to rethink the balance, but Shanahan’s track record with passing efficiency suggests he should lean into the aerial attack more, not less. Since 2021, Shanahan sits near the top of the league in adjusted net yards per attempt, as tracked by Fantasy Points’ Ryan Heath. Only former Ravens offensive coordinator and current Browns head coach Todd Monken has posted a higher per-attempt efficiency. Yet the 49ers user a smaller share of plays in the pass game, averaging roughly 33 dropbacks per game—the fewest in the league for a team with legitimate playoff aspirations. That setup implies similar or better results could be achieved with a heavier pass workload, leveraging quarterback Brock Purdy’s efficiency rather than over-relying on the run.
The 2025 data reinforce the potential upside of more through-the-air work. San Francisco finished 10th in the NFL in pass attempts (574) and sixth in net passing yards per attempt (6.9). Paradoxically, this marked a decline in relative efficiency compared with the previous four seasons, when the 49ers ranked 22nd or lower in pass attempts but dominated per throw, finishing first in net yards per attempt twice and never falling lower than fourth. In other words, even as Shanahan asked Purdy to throw more in 2025, the offense remained an upper-tier unit through the air. There’s a plausible case that the 49ers could increase passing volume further without sacrificing efficiency meaningfully.
That case strengthens when you examine the run game. San Francisco ranked 10th in rushing attempts in 2025 (481) but 30th in yards per carry (3.8). This isn’t an isolated anomaly; the 49ers have ranked in the top 10 in rushing attempts in four of the past five seasons, yet they’ve only cracked the top 10 in yards per carry twice in that span. With aging backs like Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams entering the later stages of their careers, the gap between how often San Francisco runs the ball and how effective it actually is should raise eyebrows. If the run game continues to trend the wrong way, simply increasing volume at the expense of the passing game may not be the best course of action.
Granted, 2025 could be an outlier given the franchise’s history, and moving away from a long-held run-first ethos runs against Shanahan’s established approach. But if the 49ers no longer have a reliable, high-end run game to lean on, there’s little justification to force-feed it at the cost of a passing attack that is still performing at an elite level under Purdy.
Purdy has given indication that this shift could be fruitful. He has improved his accuracy, raising his completion percentage from 67.1% as a rookie in 2022 to a career-best 69.4%, a mark he’s reached in back-to-back full seasons. Those seasons have also been his most productive in terms of touchdown rate, posting 7.0% TD percentage in both 2023 and 2025. Through nine starts in 2025, Purdy had completed 197 of 284 passes for 2,167 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions—a pace that supports the notion that a more pass-heavy approach could sustain or even lift the offense’s ceiling. If Shanahan opts to prioritize the pass without surrendering efficiency, the 49ers could maximize the strengths of their quarterback and receivers while mitigating the risks associated with relying too heavily on a faded run game.