San Francisco 49ers: How will they look on offense?

Now that huge moves have taken place during free agency, the San Francisco 49ers have a great look at who’s going to be on offense next season. Gone is the reliable Frank Gore, and now the team has to figure out what it’s going to look like with its new additions.

First, expect the scrapping of the constantly changing offense. Both Jed York and Trent Baalke have hinted at things going back to the basics for the 49ers. That’s the biggest problem in losing Gore — the consistent and reliable running attack will be gone.

More from San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco didn’t go to old reliable week in and week out like they should have last year. His numbers varied wildly each week, but it was based on what kind of offensive formation they used. They thought they could outsmart defenses, but what it took away was a huge offensive threat. It’s certainly head scratching when Gore would get the ball just six times and run for 10 yards against the Arizona Cardinals and then get it 24 times for 119 yards in the following week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

This doesn’t mean the 49ers lack a threat at running back. Instead, they’ll likely have a three-headed running attack with two returners and the addition of Reggie Bush. Another addition in the offseason, Torrey Smith, will add a threat on the wide receiver corps. Taylor Price of 49ers.com explains the changes.

"An addition like Torrey Smith, for example, gives the 49ers a different type of wide receiver than what they had on the roster last season. Chryst also has a three-headed running back approach at his disposal with Carlos Hyde, Kendall Hunter and veteran Reggie Bush on the roster. In previous seasons, San Francisco relied heavily on Frank Gore to carry the full workload.The options in the passing game and running attack should heavily influence the play calls in 2015. But to really know to what degree things will change, we’ll have to wait until games are played in September."

No, the additions of Bush and Smith aren’t groundbreaking, but just having a change could ignite this offense. Clearly whatever plan was in place in 2014 wasn’t working. For Bush, he’s clearly past his prime but presents a fast option for the team. If Hyde regresses from his production last year or Hunter doesn’t really seem on track after recovering from a season-ending injury last year, Bush would end up being a valuable addition.

For Smith, this could be a fresh start for him. He’s the second receiver the 49ers have gained from the Baltimore Ravens since facing them in the Super Bowl more than two years ago. Anquan Boldin will continue to be the number one receiver, but Smith will easily slide into the second option.

At the very least, Smith will be a refreshing addition to the receiving corps that didn’t hold up to expectations last season. He’s played in every game since joining the Ravens in 2011 and has accumulated more than 3,500 receiving yards and had a career-high 11 touchdowns last season. He hasn’t had a season with less than 49 catches.

In contrast, Davis had 41, 52, and 26 catches in consecutive seasons since 2012. A tight end will generally receive less targets, but that’s very disappointing considering he was a top-3 receiving option heading into those seasons.

It’s going to be vastly different, but a promise to return to basics should please 49ers fans that were frustrated with how badly the offense performed in 2014. The addition of a couple of skill players should help the team stay on the field and aid a defense that will be seeing much more turnover heading into next season.

Next: NFL impact of Chris Borland's retirement

How will the San Francisco 49ers look on offense?

By Brian Spaen | Mar 21, 2015

More from NFL Spin Zone