The Shanaplan: How concerned are you about the 49ers drops in the preseason?

We talked about one thing that we liked and didn’t like on each side of the ball

During today’s Shanaplan episode, Akash and recapped the 49ers 15-10 win over the Chargers. We started the episode with one thing we liked and didn’t like on each side of the ball.

Akash went with a rookie cornerback on defense while I talked about the Monstars (Space Jam) upfront:

• Demmodore Lenoir – Six targets for one catch and nine yards with two pass breakups (one on third down) and has allowed a passer rating of 0.0.
• Jordan Willis, Arden Key, Maurice Hurst, Kevin Givens, you name it, they made a play. What’s impressive is that these are depth guys winning. Wait until Dee Ford, Nick Bosa, and Javon Kinlaw return.

As for what we liked on offense, Akash went with Trey Lance’s resiliency, and I went with the running game.

• Lance overcame a rough couple of drives to start the game and led the two-minute drill for a touchdown, and came out and scored again in the third quarter. Yes, it’s preseason. But you want to see how the rookie responded to a tough start, and he bounced back in a big way.
• Mike McGlinchey was awesome. Outside of one bad pass pro rep, he had a clean game and did what he usually does in the running game:

San Francisco’s running game has consistently moved the ball and stayed ahead of the chains this preseason. With Lance under center, the 49ers have 28 carries for 144 yards. I’m sure Kyle Shanahan will take 5.1 yards per carry every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

As for one thing we didn’t like on offense, Akash went with the wide receiver drops, and I went with both QBs missing reads:

• Drops have been a consistent theme these past couple of weeks. Lance has the most drops (7) among all rookie QBs. Yet, his completion percentage goes up about 15-20 percentage points if you count the drops as catches. We discussed whether drops would be something we have to worry about moving forward — especially when they come from your best players.
• I felt like both Lance, and Jimmy Garoppolo had a few plays where they missed open receivers and left yards on the field. Just something to keep an eye on moving forward. Nothing to worry about in the preseason.

On defense, it was tough, as they’ve been playing lights out. Akash went with B.W. Webb, who was released, and I went with a couple of explosive plays given up by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Ambry Thomas.

The 49ers have been among the best defenses in the league during the past couple of seasons when limiting big plays. This is a preseason issue and not something I’d be worried about so long as Jimmie Ward is on the field.

You can listen to the entire episode below:

Other topics during today’s episode include:

• Have the quarterbacks done enough for Shanahan to name a starter?
• The 49ers continuing to hit on fifth-round picks
• Some of the biggest surprises we’ve seen from the 49ers through the preseason.