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Factoid

Kyle Shanahan

Receivers haven't been big scorers

Deebo Samuel should show up on a lot of Fantasy Index reader teams this year. He appears higher in our rankings than that of most other experts or ADP suggests. He's a talented guy, and should be the No. 1 wideout in San Francisco's offense. Less certain is whether he'll score a lot of touchdowns.

San Francisco will have an excellent ground game, and they'll make heavy use of tight end George Kittle. And the touchdowns might be spread around, because that's been a staple of Kyle Shanahan offenses. As a coordinator or head coach with four different teams over the last decade. he's never had a really productive scorer.

Shanahan ran Washington's offense from 2010 through 2013, then Cleveland for a year, and then Atlanta for two seasons before coming to San Francisco. He had some excellent No. 1 wideouts, part of why we're excited about Samuel. But none of those players ever scored more than 8 touchdowns in a season, and only three of them (in 10 years) scored more than 6.

KYLE SHANAHAN RECEIVERS, 2010-2019
YearPlayerGTgtNoYdsTD
2015Julio Jones1620313618718
2012Santana Moss1662415738
2016Taylor Gabriel1350355797
2016Julio Jones141298314096
2010Santana Moss161459311156
2019Deebo Samuel1581578026
2018George Kittle161368813775
2013Pierre Garcon1618111313465
2019George Kittle141078510535
2011Jabar Gaffney16114689475
2018Dante Pettis1245274675
2019Kendrick Bourne1644303585
2012Pierre Garcon1068446335
2016Mohamed Sanu1581596534
2011Santana Moss1295465844
2018Kendrick Bourne1666424874
2018Marquise Goodwin1143233954
2017Garrett Celek1633213364
2016Justin Hardy1631212034
2019Emmanuel Sanders1053365023
2010Anthony Armstrong1586448713
2010Chris Cooley16126778493
2011Fred Davis1288597963
2012Leonard Hankerson1657385433
2013Jordan Reed959454993
2013Leonard Hankerson1050303753
2010Fred Davis1630213163
2014Travis Benjamin1646183143
2016Austin Hooper1427192713
2013Logan Paulsen1650282673
2012Aldrick Robinson1519112373
2016Jacob Tamme831222103
2017Marquise Goodwin16105569622
2014Andrew Hawkins15112638242
2014Miles Austin1273475682
2017George Kittle1563435152
2012Josh Morgan1673485102
2013Santana Moss1679424522
2017Trent Taylor1560434302
2014Jordan Cameron1048244242
2013Aldrick Robinson1646183652
2016Aldrick Robinson1632203232
2011Donte Stallworth1138223092
2010Keiland Williams1558393092
2016Levine Toilolo1619132642
2017Aldrick Robinson1648192602
2015Jacob Tamme1581596571
2014Taylor Gabriel1672366211
2015Roddy White1670435061
2012Logan Paulsen1638253081
2018Pierre Garcon846242861
2014Jim Dray1627172421
2018Trent Taylor1441262151
2017Pierre Garcon867405000
2012Fred Davis731243250
2014Josh Gordon547243030
2017Kendrick Bourne1134162570
2013Josh Morgan1434202140

Samuel was a 6-TD guy last year, and he got there by diversifying: 3 receiving scores and 3 rushing. With that dual-threat ability, maybe he'll make it up to 10 touchdowns -- something Julio Jones did before Shanahan showed up in Atlanta, but not with him.

But I think if you're rostering Samuel, or George Kittle, or any of the team's talented young pass catchers, you need to keep touchdown expectations modest. It's one area where the history suggests those players might fall a little short of the other top pass catchers.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index