With this draft, it certainly looks like LaFleur is looking to do roughly the same thing Shanahan has done. About those wide receivers...
Here are the top-targeted wide receivers in San Francisco last year:
Deebo Samuel - 81
Emmanuel Sanders - 53
Kendrick Bourne - 44
The next highest targeted WR was Dante Pettis with 24.
Now, that's not to say that you only need a couple wide receivers. However, per Sharp Football, the 49ers only went with a 3+ WR grouping on 30% of snaps last season. Packers were are 54%.
In 2018, the Packers were rolling out 3+ WR sets 73% of the time. 73%! So they went from 73% in 2018 to 54% in 2019, and will likely decrease that more this season.
So here's what I'll say: it's not that you don't need wide receivers, but you don't need as many of them. If the Packers feel like MVS & EQ can make a kind of leap next season, rolling with a WR corps of Adams/MVS/EQ/Lazard/Funchess/Whoever Else isn't terrible.
And yeah, they could have added a talent this draft. Believe me, I wish they would have. But the offense found something in Ervin last year with his speed that helped open some things up. This group can do some damage. I truly believe that.
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