While the San Francisco 49ers are hoping for a defensive resurgence this season, Kyle Shanahan's offense is the engine that drives this team.
All the pressure on that side of the ball will be on Brock Purdy to back up his sensational 2023, and he will have a lot of help as he sets about achieving that goal, not least from Shanahan and his unmatched play-calling prowess.
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey will obviously be crucial to the success of the attack as its clear focal point, while there will be a lot of eyes on Brandon Aiyuk following the All-Pro wide receiver's very public contract impasse, which ended in a four-year, $120 million extension .
Do-it-all tight end George Kittle carries huge significance to the offense. However, as the 49ers plot a path back to the Super Bowl after their heartbreak in February, there are three non-Purdy players whose displays in the 2024 season look set to have the biggest impact on their fortunes.
OT Trent Williams
The 49ers finally got a reworked deal done with their All-Pro left tackle last week, his restructured contract guaranteeing him the next two years of his contract ($48 million).
It is a clear bet that Williams can continue to hold off Father Time and remain the premier tackle in the game as he looks to achieve his previously stated ambition of playing into his 40s.
There's a chance Williams could be a little rusty having only returned to the facility for practice on Tuesday following his holdout, but the fact of the matter is the 49ers can't afford for Williams to be anything but his best if they are to realize their goal of Super Bowl glory in 2024.
In a recent piece for ESPN, Ben Solak articulated just how important Williams is to the 49ers. He wrote:
"Brock Purdy has played 1,435 snaps with Williams, and the 49ers have averaged a whopping 0.18 expected points added (EPA) per play on those snaps. In the 147 snaps Purdy has taken without Williams, that EPA per play drops to 0.00 -- just an average offense."
Even for a premium position like left tackle, Williams has an outsized influence on the fortunes of the game's best offense. Any slow start cannot be an extended one if the Niners are to dominate again.
OG Dominick Puni
Williams has long since been the glue on an otherwise largely unconvincing offensive line widely regarded as one of the few weaknesses of the 49er roster.
Though right tackle Colton McKivitz received plenty of criticism for his performances in his first season as a starter, the right guard position has been just as much of a concern, with the 49ers previously having no settled long-term answer at that spot.
The hope is that third-round rookie Puni has given them that solution. Puni excelled in training camp and preseason after being promoted to the first string because of injuries to Jon Feliciano and Spencer Burford.
Puni was a rock in pass protection in preseason, allowing only two pressures according to Pro Football Focus, while he displayed great strides in the run game, which was previously identified as one of his weaknesses by offensive line coach Chris Foerster.
The challenges Puni will face in the regular season will be substantially more difficult. Should he rise to them and replicate his preseason play, that will take a lot of the interior pressure Purdy faced last season away and also serve to mitigate the impact of potential continued subpar play from McKivitz
Right guard has been a longtime void for the 49ers. They will be in substantially better shape to go all the way if Puni fills it.
WR Deebo Samuel
As the Aiyuk saga rumbled on, a lot was rightly made of his importance to quarterback Brock Purdy.
Aiyuk is undoubtedly Purdy's favorite target, the one whom which he has the best rapport, and the receiver who brings the most upside in terms of explosive plays.
As long as Aiyuk knocks the rust off quickly, there's little reason to think he won't be able to quickly re-establish his connection with Purdy despite missing the vast majority of the offseason.
However, there is recent history of some 49ers players struggling to perform in the subsequent season after long contract sagas, with both Nick Bosa and Samuel speaking candidly about it.
If Aiyuk endures some struggles, then Samuel's performances in 2024 will carry increased importance.
Samuel is, alongside Williams, considered to be the heartbeat of the offense even if he has recently taken a backseat to McCaffrey and Aiyuk in terms of his prominence in it. He is a tone-setting force who remains the most diverse playmaker in the league with what he can do both as a receiver and out of the backfield.
Last season, Samuel had 1,117 yards from scrimmage and 12 total touchdowns. Per FTN Fantasy, Samuel ranked fifth among all wide receivers in DVOA and was second among all offensive players rushing the ball in that metric, which measures per play value. No player in the NFL had a higher share of their carries go for an explosive play (10 yards or more) than Samuel (29.7%).
Yet Samuel and the wider NFL world know he can be even more impactful. There are too many mouths to feed for him to match his remarkable production from the 2021 season, but after an offseason in which Samuel dropped some weight and has received widespread praise for his performances in practice, he looks primed for a superb 2024.
With the uncertainty surrounding how Aiyuk will perform following his big payday, it's pivotal Samuel's strong offseason translates into his best campaign since 2021.
Related: Kyle Shanahan says Brandon Aiyuk's contract stand-off with the San Francisco 49ers is already forgotten
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