What Kyle Shanahan Wants to see More out of Danny Gray With his Snaps
Danny Gray has been a whiff so far for the 49ers.
It really shouldn't be shocking. He was ultimately drafted to pair with Trey Lance so that taking shots down the field would be utilized more with Lance's cannon arm. However, with Lance out for the year, Gray doesn't really serve a purpose anymore. Jimmy Garoppolo is not a quarterback who will take the shots down the field nor is he capable of being accurate with them either.
Still, Gray can find ways to make an impact even without running verticals. That is something he is failing to do with the limited snaps he is getting now. Kyle Shanahan wants to see Gray do more with his minimal playing time.
"He's just got to continue to be more consistent," Shanahan said. "Be able to do everything, down in and down out. You never know what plays you're going to be in there on, so it just can't be stuff that exactly fits your skill set. You gotta be able to block, gotta be able to run the other routes, you gotta know where to lineup."
Gray is in danger of finding himself phased out for the future if he doesn't find an impact. Since his bread-and-butter of running streaks is taken away, he has to adapt. This is an adapt or die league, and if he cannot pick up the slack in other ways, then Shanahan will have no problem forgetting about him.
The same thing happened with Brandon Aiyuk until he started picking it up with his blocking and overall work rate. Once he made those improvements, he saw his number called upon more. Now, Shanahan cannot rave enough about Aiyuk. Gray needs to do what he can for the team. It is an unfortunate circumstance and probably unfair to him, but this is what he has to do to find the field and aid the offense.
"Just all the things that rookies go through that just has to make him more consistent to beat some of the guys that are in front of him."
