Kyle Shanahan hired mostly assistant coaches he was familiar with, and so far during free agency, he’s taken a similar approach in adding players.
Former Falcons and Redskins wide receiver Aldrick Robinson joined Pierre Garcon, Brian Hoyer and Logan Paulsen Thursday night as free agent acquisitions who Shanahan has coached before.
WR Aldrick Robinson (22 grabs for ATL last year) set to follow Kyle Shanahan to SF. Two-year deal with the Niners worth up to $6m.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2017
Robinson fits the mold of the type of players GM John Lynch has been adding to the roster — a solid role player on a relatively inexpensive contract.
A go-route extraordinaire, Robinson had a breakout season in 2012 as Robert Griffin III’s favorite deep target. Robinson had a career-high 20 catches last season with Shanahan in Atlanta after sitting out 2015. Robinson’s best game of the season came against the 49ers on Dec. 18, when he hauled in four receptions for 111 yards.
The 28-year-old is built similarly to Marquise Goodwin so there could end be a healthy competition between to the two during training camp.
Another strength of bringing in a bunch of players he knows, is that Shanahan now has veteran players who can teach younger teammates the system. The wordy play calls and all the variation can take some time for players to learn. Robinson, Garcon, Hoyer and Paulsen will be lending a helping hand during OTA’s and minicamp.
There’s also the locker room buy-in factor. Shanahan has brought in players he knows love football and aren’t chasing a pay day. The reward of restoring the 49ers may take longer than some of these players are here for, but there’s clearly a sense of loyalty these players feel toward their former offensive coordinator.