49ers Week 1 Running Game

Kyle Shanahan's offense rolls despite missing McCaffrey.

The Shanahan system is known for being running back-friendly, and that was on display this past week. With Christian McCaffrey out and Eli Mitchell on IR, the 49ers looked to lean heavily on Jordan Mason. He did not disappoint.

Let’s look at the concepts they used to create big running plays.

Duo

For their downhill runs, Shanahan relied on Duo. Both examples use a condensed formation with two tight ends opposite each other.

They motion the off-the-ball tight end across to kick the end man on the line of scrimmage.

Duo is a great pair for Shanahan’s zone runs because if the defense flows with the linemen the “cut-back” created is the point of attack for the back.