Assessing the Impact Emmanuel Sanders Will Have on the 49ers' Offense

The underwhelming impact of the wide receivers for the San Francisco 49ers will no longer be an issue. San Francisco acquired Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in hopes that he will bring a huge boost to the position and the offense.

With that said, let's asses the impact Sanders will have on the 49ers' offense.

The elephant in the room from his acquisition is that Jimmy Garoppolo now has a polished receiver he can depend upon. If the 49ers ever get in a pinch where they need Garoppolo to air it out, they can do so more confidently with Sanders in the mix. Before the trade, it was definitely shaky ground for the 49ers if they ever had to rely on the aerial attack.

Breaking: The #49ers trade for Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

Sanders has posted a 79.7 overall grade with the @PFF_Broncos. That grade is more than 10 points higher than the closest 49ers receiver on the roster. It's also 13th among receivers this season. pic.twitter.com/gRMsvRTfc1
— PFF SF 49ers (@PFF_49ers) October 22, 2019

The San Francisco 49ers needed someone who had been there. Someone who was reliable and could immediately impact the offense. With Sanders they get that benefit of reliability. You won't see him drop the ball as he hasn't recorded one all season, whereas the 49ers' receivers have recorded five.

As much as this helps Garoppolo, the acquisition of Emmanuel Sanders will greatly benefit George Kittle just as much. Defenses will start to become hesitant to roll coverage or double team against Kittle. And if they do, then they're playing into the hands of Kyle Shanahan.

That is one of the main reasons why they went after Sanders. To make defenses pay for putting all their eggs in one basket, which is focusing all their attention on Kittle. What is great about having both Kittle and Sanders in the same offense is how they excel from the slot.

Emmanuel Sanders has still been very good in the slot. His 2.34 yards per route run out of slot ranks 9th in NFL this year.

A big piece I wrote in Jan. theorized Shanahan was going for the New England 2011 TE/slot model (Gronk/Welker)… now 49ers have Kittle/Sanders/Taylor(?)
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 22, 2019

How're defenses going to approach formations that pair these two players together? A lot of switch routes will be used when these two are paired up. That'll just create immense confusion for a defense. Let's not forget how the 49ers love to utilize play-action.

Now that Sanders is in the mix, Shanahan can take shots downfield off of play-action. Sanders can go deep on a simple streaker, while the defense has their eyes occupied in the backfield. There is also the possibility of just using Sanders to take the top off of the defense and allow the other wide receivers to feast underneath.

Kittle avgs 7 targets per game in 2019 after 8.5 per game in 2018. With Sanders getting more attention than other WRs, it's possible Kittle gets targeted even more. Also possible he is asked to block more without Juszczyk, but after KJ gets back I'm not sure you cover this team.
— Steve Berman (@BASportsGuy) October 22, 2019

The acquisition of Emmanuel Sanders greatly benefits George Kittle, but he can also be the mentor and veteran presence that was desperately needed at the position. With so much young and raw talent at receiver for the 49ers, there was a significant need for a leader. Marquise Goodwin is the longest tenured player at the position, but he isn't really someone to look towards.

Sanders has been a participant in two Super Bowls and has won one of them. His eight playoff game appearances is what the 49ers need since they are perfectly setup for a playoff game. The experience that comes with Sanders is the main reason he was brought here. He won't have explosive numbers consistently, but his impact will be immediately felt and it all starts on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers' defense is one of the better secondaries in the league, but now they will be playing with fire if they want to scheme around George Kittle. We'll get our first glimpse of Emmanuel Sanders at Levi's stadium and how he'll effect Kittle and the rest of the offense.