The 49ers offense led the NFL in 30+ yard plays last season

While the 49ers may have fallen just short of their ultimate goal in the 2022 season, one thing that they can hang their hat on was their ability to generate explosive plays on offense.

They registered 33 offensive plays that went for at least 30 yards, which led all teams in the NFL. The only other teams who eclipsed 30 such plays were the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, who were the final two teams standing before squaring off in an epic Super Bowl in the desert.

With Kyle Shanahan at the controls, it's no surprise to see the 49ers at the top of any offensive list, but there is something that needs a bit of clarity with this particular statistic. Given the fact that the 49ers started three different quarterbacks during the regular season, who exactly was the driving force behind this offensive output?

To get a clearer picture, I went back to the game log of all 17 contests from the 2022 season, and charted each of these 30-plus yard plays. I was able to get splits on runs versus passes, which quarterbacks were under center, and which skill position players were involved.

First and foremost, the passing and rushing splits. Twenty-two of the 33 were passing plays, with the remaining 11 being rushing attempts. The rushing attempts that resulted in these explosive plays were fairly spread out with six different players registering a carry that went for over 30 yards.

Two were tied with three apiece, with Christian McCaffrey unsurprisingly being one of the leaders. What might surprise you is that the other was Jeff Wilson Jr., who also had three before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in the middle of the season.

Deebo Samuel had two, while Ray-Ray McCloud, Jordan Mason, and Elijah Mitchell each had one apiece.

Now for the quarterbacks, which is where things get pretty interesting. All three of the quarterbacks who started games for the 49ers in 2022 recorded at least two passing plays of 30 plus yards.

Jimmy Garoppolo led the way with 12, Brock Purdy followed with 7, and Trey Lance recorded two of his own, which both came in the 49ers week one opener in Chicago. For anyone doing the math, there is probably a bit of confusion, as there would be one missing from the season total of 33.

That one throw can be claimed by none other than McCaffrey, who connected with Brandon Aiyuk for a 34 yard touchdown in the 49ers Week 8 win over the Rams in Los Angeles.

While all three quarterbacks who started had success generating these explosive plays, one stood out above the rest regarding the rate that these 30 plus yard plays were generated.

Prior to Brock Purdy’s first career start in Week 14, the 49ers had played 12 games. They averaged 1.5 plays of 30 plus yards over those first 12 games when Lance and Garoppolo were starting.

In the five games that Purdy started to close the season, the rate of those 30 plus yard plays nearly doubled to an average of 2.8 per game. Now it is important to note that five of the 14 plays that came in Purdy’s starts were rushing attempts, this is not a stat that is intended to give him sole credit for the uptick in offensive output.

However, there is something to be said about the efficiency the 49ers offense operated under in those five starts, a stretch where they averaged 33.6 points per game. An incredible number when you consider a rookie quarterback was under center through the back end of an NFL schedule, which are always tough games regardless of who the opponent is on a given week.

As for the skill position players, George Kittle topped the list with six, another impressive feat in a prolific season that saw him set a career high in touchdowns as well. Twelve different 49ers skill position players were involved in a 30 plus yard play, with eight of them recording multiple such plays.

Below is a list of the skill position players and how many of these 30 plus yard plays they recorded a touch in:

George Kittle - 6

Christian McCaffrey - 5

Deebo Samuel - 4

Brandon Aiyuk - 4

Jeff Wilson Jr. - 3

Ray-Ray McCloud - 3

Jauan Jennings - 2

Ross Dwelley - 2

Elijah Mitchell - 1

Jordan Mason - 1

Kyle Juszczyk - 1

Tevin Coleman - 1

Here is the full list broken down into more specific categories:

Run/Pass

Passing plays - 22

Running plays - 11

Quarterbacks

Jimmy Garoppolo - 12

Brock Purdy - 7

Trey Lance - 2

Christian McCaffrey - 1

Rushing plays

Christian McCaffrey - 3

Jeff Wilson Jr. - 3

Deebo Samuel - 2

Jordan Mason - 1

Elijah Mitchell - 1

Ray-Ray McCloud - 1

Receiving plays

George Kittle - 6

Brandon Aiyuk - 4

Deebo Samuel - 2

Ross Dwelley - 2

Ray-Ray McCloud - 2

Jauan Jennings - 2

Tevin Coleman - 1

Kyle Juszczyk - 1

Christian McCaffrey - 1