The San Francisco 49ers paid a premium to get running back Jerick McKinnon under contract, but head coach Kyle Shanahan is extremely excited about the various ways he can deploy McKinnon in the 49ers’ offense.
According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Shanahan was effusive in his praise of the latest weapon added to San Francisco’s offensive attack.
“There’s so many things I liked about him, just visualizing how I would use him and the stuff that we would do,” Shanahan said. “Even though there wasn’t a ton of it, you’ve still got to see him do some stuff that we do a lot. And whenever he did, he excelled a ton and looked very good at it.”
Shanahan had success with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman as the offensive coordinator in Atlanta. His offense allowed Alfred Morris to succeed in Washington when he served as coordinator of the Redskins. Now McKinnon will be the latest back to get a chance to thrive in a Shanahan offense.
While McKinnon is a successful rusher, it’s what he brings to the passing attack that has Shanahan particularly excited.
“What is a huge bonus on him is when you talk about the pass game,” Shanahan said. “When it comes to separating and beating linebackers and safeties in man-to-man coverage, I definitely think he’s an issue for teams. I think this league, when it comes to third downs and things like that, you move the chains based off of matchups, which allows you to get points in the long run.”