49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk on Niners’ Purdy-Shanahan Match Made in Heaven

Kyle Juszczyk's two-part read on Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy explains why the 49ers offense, even with skill-position turnover, looks the same week after week. The match, in Juszczyk's view, is structural.

Start with Shanahan. The fullback called his head coach "five dimensions deep into a four-dimension game of chess."

"I never leave a conversation with Kyle without having learned something or been just impressed with how his brain works," Juszczyk told Rich.

The thing Juszczyk most appreciates is Shanahan's defensive literacy. The head coach, in team meetings, breaks down every single assignment the opposing defense will run. He uses those assignments against them. The play call, by the time it gets to the huddle, is built on what the defense is required to do.

"He understands the defense just as good as if not better than most defensive coordinators," Juszczyk said. "That's how you really take it to that elite level of play calling."

That, in Juszczyk's experience, is the gap between Shanahan and the rest of the league's offensive minds.

It also produces, as a downstream effect, the confidence with which the 49ers players take the field every week.

"You know that he's putting you in a position to succeed," Juszczyk said. "He's not going to put you in a spot that he doesn't think with your abilities, your talent, that you're in a mismatch you're not going to be able to pull off."

The Purdy half of the answer was about evolution. Juszczyk has noticed Brock Purdy's growth specifically in his willingness to push back on Shanahan when needed.

"Especially as Brock's gotten older, he's been a veteran starter now," Juszczyk said. "You see Brock being able to contribute more to that, to push back maybe. He doesn't always have to agree with what Kyle says or sees out there. It's been cool to see Brock mature and be able to stand on his belief."

The mature Brock Purdy, in Juszczyk's read, is not just executing the script. He is co-authoring it on the sideline between drives.

Asked what Purdy specifically brings as the avatar for Shanahan's offense, Juszczyk pointed to post-snap processing. The 49ers quarterback reads what the defense actually does after the ball is snapped, not just what they show pre-snap. The system is built on that capability.

The second skill is what Juszczyk said most analysts sleep on. Purdy's ability to extend plays out of structure while keeping his eyes downfield.

"He can sit in the pocket. He can do things in progression," Juszczyk said. "But if he needs to run around and buy some time, I think he's one of the better guys in the league at doing it. He keeps his eyes down the field as he does it."

That is the precise skill the Shanahan system requires when the design breaks down. The combination of a head coach who builds the defense's assignment into every call, and a quarterback who reads the actual play after the snap and improvises with vision intact, is the version of the 49ers offense that has been the constant through every roster change.

The match, in Juszczyk's word, is heaven.