‘All signs point to Kyle Shanahan’ is what the Magic 8-ball of head coaches is reading Wednesday morning. After an unbelievable run as offensive coordinator in Atlanta, a run that still continues, Shanahan should’ve been at the top of most lists but it appears the Niners are the front runners.
Is it Shanahan or is Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman? Well, either way you slice it the Atlanta Falcons had the most prolific offense in the league this season. A trait that they certainly did not share by a long shot with the San Francisco 49ers. Atlanta finished with the second most yards gained (6653) while San Fran finished second last (4930). Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons finished first in the NFL with 33.8 points per game while the Niners stumbled to fifth from the bottom with 19.3 ppg. Yes, their defense was garbage too, but they need points and they need an offensive minded head coach.
Next step for the Niners once they bring in a coach will be a quarterback. There’s no chance in hell that Blaine Gabbert will retake the reins and it looks like the Colin Kaepernick redemption experiment may be at an end too, so where does that leave them? Well, there are a flurry of names out there who may be pending free agents or expendable in the final year of their deals. However, it does seem more likely that San Francisco with use their second overall pick to select a quarterback.
After his national championship performance, all signs point to the back-to-back Heisman finalist DeShaun Watson. Although, in the weeks leading up to the final game between Clemson and Alabama, North Carolina quarterback Mitch Turbisky was ranked ahead DeShaun in most mock drafts. Either way, get ready for a new regime in San Fran for the latter portion of the decade.
