49ers film room - How Kyle Shanahan sequences play calling part 3: blending the run game, run-pass option, and play action together

Part 3, the final in this series, looks at how Shanahan create's space in the running game with a tagged run-pass option and a play action pass play from the same run action, formation and motion.

In part 1 we covered how the run game and the play action passing game are married together to create the same exact looks for the defense and how the 49ers build on those concepts as each game progresses. In parts 2a and 2b, we covered how the 49ers get to their run-pass option (RPO) tags on called run plays from under center and out of the shotgun.

Today, we’re going to look at how the 49ers marry all three together to take advantage of how defenses adjust to the presentation of their formations and motions to create positive gains with an RPO, a run call, and play action pass from the same run action, motion, and formation alignment off of their “Zorro” run concept.

Zorro is a running game concept that allows the tight end to kick out the wide defensive end or linebacker on the line of scrimmage while the fullback or another tight end in-line blocks inside and protects the outside blocker’s inside gap by preventing the blocker’s defender from any inside move before moving on to the next defender through the hole. The play call is specifically designed to attack defenses like to set hard edges with their outside linebackers and discourage teams from trying to get to the edge.

Speaking with a former offensive lineman who played multiple years in Kyle Shanahan’s offense but wished to remain anonymous, he told me “we always want to get to the edge. That’s our go-to against 3-4 teams. It gives us better angles to handle the outside linebackers that align wider and set the edge harder.”

These cut-ups versus the Bears in 2021 show how easy it is to out-gap the defense and gain a numbers advantage back in the box. The running game in this game rushed for 145 yards on the back of Elijah Mitchell, who had gains of 27, 27, and 39 on this run game concept versus the Bears/Vic Fangio-style 3-4 defense.

This is a staple run game concept the 49ers have leaned heavily on since defenses began to force the wide zone running game back to the middle of the field into the heart of the defense. In week 16 in 2022, the 49ers leaned on it to counter the Commanders 5-down lineman fronts. The following three screenshots show how the 49ers ran their Zorro run play with play action and an RPO tag.

I have left each screenshot plain so the reader cannot tell which one is run, which one is an RPO, and which one is play action.

The Washington Commanders are not an exclusive 3-4 defense but in this game, a lot of their game-planned defensive fronts were designed to prevent the 49ers from getting to the edges.

Zorro Dart

Kyle Shanahan had answers. By tagging the RPO backside to the run concept, the quarterback can survey the defense pre-snap and determine if throwing the quick slant is the best option. 

The determination is made by checking for the alignment of the WILL linebacker or defensive end in the 5-man front. If the WILL is inside the formation off the ball, this is the most advantageous “look” for the offense to throw the slant.

Since there is an extra defensive lineman on the field, and since the SAM linebacker is to the strength, this puts the backside defensive end as the read. In a drop-back pass play, that defensive end would likely zone drop to the flat, making the down safety the weak hook zone dropper. This is an advantageous look to throw against for the RPO.

The 49ers here are in 12 personnel in a YY wing formation running 18 ZORRO DART, a running play with the backside RPO tagged to the left from Brandon Aiyuk. The Commanders come out with a 5-man defensive line, something they commonly used against run-heavy teams in weeks prior to this game. They stack the box with 8 defenders with the weak safety walked down into the box on the back side.

You can see Purdy’s eyes dart very quickly at the snap to check the backside movement of the line and whether or not the edge defender will peel and not chase the run action. He crashes inside with the safety chasing the run as the backside leverage (lever) so he quickly fakes the toss, turns and fires a sidearm throw to Aiyuk on the quick slant with the edge defender in his face. Good read by the young quarterback and a good platform to get the ball out quickly. The 49ers open the game with a 9-yard completion.

Zorro run

While Purdy was narrowly able to avoid the pass being broken up in the first play above, he choose not to take that same chance with Chase Young coming off the edge in this play plus a different zone alignment from the defense.

Since the defense is in a 4-down front this time, this changes the zone drop alignments from the defense and the WILL linebacker becomes the weak curl/flat defender, not an advantageous look to throw against with his zone dropping into the slant window.

Purdy peeks at the weak side again to ensure the post-snap picture confirms the pre-snap and it does with Young chasing off the edge unblocked. But the read here would be the WILL linebacker (LB52) anyways, and with a 4-down front, the WILL would be in better position to defend the RPO. Purdy takes the snap, turns and tosses the ball to Christian McCaffrey who takes the ball up behind his blockers for about 4 yards.

Zorro Shallow play action

The Shanahan system is predicated on everything looking the same, as shown above. In a coaching clinic on CoachTube, University of Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch (who was the Rams assistant offensive coordinator in 2018 and 2019) stressed the importance of running and utilizing play action passing from identical formations. “What we’re able to do is get in that exact same formation, and make everything look exactly the same, and then turn it into a keeper” where they can get a 20 yard explosive pass.”

The above plays fit this description. The formation, the movement of the offensive, the quarterback movement, is all designed to look the same so the offense can eventually get an explosive pass play off the run action.

That’s exactly what the 49ers do here. The play call is “Zorro shallow,” designating Zorro as the run action and “shallow” as the primary read on the play action concept. There is an explosive pass built into this play call, Brandon Aiyuk on the corner.”

Everything looks the same, from the run action, to the motion, to the quarterback fake toss action, etc. Purdy takes the snap, turns and executes a fake toss to Tyrion Davis-Price, and boots out to his left where he finds Kittle open running the shallow crossing route from right to left. The explosive pass play built in is the corner route to Aiyuk and he had a throw there over the top with Aiyuk having about 3 yards of separation but his first read is open. Kittle sprints to an easy touchdown.