The 49ers’ offense continues to be the subject of overwhelming praise from some of the best defensive players in the NFL.
Shortly after All-Pro pass rusher Von Miller called 49ers right tackle Trent Brown the best in all of football, the Broncos’ pair of All-Pro corners seemed incredibly impressed with Kyle Shanahan’s offensive scheme after the teams’ joint practice on Thursday.
“Going against Kyle Shanahan, he’s a great offensive mind and a great offensive coach,” Broncos defensive back Chris Harris told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. “So it was a great week. You never know, we might see a team that has this type of offense. But on the schedule — I looked at the schedule — we don’t and I’m kind of glad we don’t.”
That statement is pretty significant coming from someone like Harris, who is not only coming off a first-team All-Pro season, but one in which he graded as the best cornerback in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. His counterpart Aqib Talib was ranked third among NFL corners last season by PFF, and was also named as a first-team All-Pro. He too had positive things to say about Shanahan and the 49ers’ offense.
“He (Shanahan) makes it work,” Talib said. “He makes you use all of your adjustments. He makes things gray, so you don’t know if you need to check or if you’re going to check. He moves you left and right. They’re great with their bootlegs. All in all, it’s a pretty great offense.
“It gives us a different look than we’ve been seeing. It’s a solid offense. Any time you can practice against a solid offense, no game plan, just go out there and play your technique, that’s always great work.”
While everything said in training camp and the preseason should be taken with a gigantic grain of salt, these kind of comments from two of the best defensive backs show the 49ers are moving in the right direction, especially after finishing 31st in total offense and 27th in points per game last season under “offensive guru” Chip Kelly.
Sure San Francisco’s offense is unlikely to be the juggernaut you’d expect if the Broncos’ defense is to be trusted, but these kind’ve statements at least point to a system that has a very good chance to be far more effective than last year’s disastrous unit. At this point, the Niners will take any praise they can get.