Golden Nuggets: Should Kyle take more or less risks as a play caller this season?

Kyle Shanahan explains his aggressiveness (or lack thereof) in play calls

“Do you know how many people crush me for never running the ball?” Shanahan asked. “And do you know how many people crush me for running the ball more than anyone? I think it’s hilarious. But I get talked to all the time about how I don’t run the ball. But no one runs the ball more than me. And so like, yeah guys. It depends on the situation. It depends on what we think is best at the time, and that doesn’t have to do with the stats at the end of the game. That has to do with our preparation during the week, our life experiences, the situation at hand.”

Sam Darnold on 49ers early impressions, George Kittle’s haunted house

And it’s not just the talent that has the 26-year-old quarterback excited about the possibilities; it’s the system.

“Guys are open. I mean, there’s a lot of guys open on dang near every play,” Darnold said. “It just seems like there’s a ton of answers (to why he chose the 49ers). Great run game. I mean, whenever you can have a great run game as a quarterback, that’s always a comforting feeling.

“And I think, just with the certain weapons that they have, [WR] Deebo [Samuel], [WR Brandon] Aiyuk, [TE] George [Kittle], obviously, [RB] Christian [McCaffrey], [FB Kyle Juszczyk], [WR] Jauan Jennings. There’s so many guys. You can go on and on.

“But they’ve been there for so long, and Kyle’s been able to understand what everyone does well, what they don’t do well. And I feel like every game plan, he uses and gets the most out of his guys, and that’s a very good feeling as a quarterback, knowing that the coordinator is going to put everyone in the best position possible.”

49ers QB Trey Lance has seen “significant improvement” this offseason, says teammate

“Very versatile, strong arm, smart young man,” Samuel shared about Lance. “How fast he can pick up things because you know everything is throwing at him at once. [In] his first year, he was behind Jimmy (Garoppolo), then when he first got the chance to show people what he can do, he got an injury. But, just coming back into minicamp and stuff, just watching Trey and how he’s progressed from the past two years, it’s been a significant improvement.”