The San Francisco 49ers might be looking for inspiration from an unlikely source this offseason - team owner Jed York reportedly wants the team to emulate their hated rivals up north.
The 49ers are reportedly scaling back their playbook and the intricacy of their offense in 2015, with Colin Kaepernick set to use more read-option and play-action sets and less of the complex, intricate shift-heavy plays favored by former OC Greg Roman. While Kaepernick's injury issues have limited their use of the read option in recent seasons - he played hurt in both 2013 and part of 2014 - York is hoping a fully healthy Kaepernick can take advantage of the read option like he did in San Francisco's NFC Championship-winning 2012 season. While Kaepernick did rush for a career-high 639 yards on the ground in 2014, the vast majority of those came on scrambles after being forced out of the pocket rather than on designed running plays.
The less-complex sets would take after what the Seahawks have done for QB Russell Wilson, who has always worked within a much simpler offense in Seattle. While the 49ers often employed multiple shifts on offense before the snap, don't expect to see much of that in 2015.
"You look at Seattle," York said earlier this week. "They have a fairly simple philosophy on both sides of the ball. But they let their players make plays. There is something to be said for that. I think you’ll see a lot of that from us."
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