Kyle Shanahan’s offense earns massive praise from Lavonte David

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Kyle Shanahan’s offense earns massive praise from Lavonte David

Originally posted on NFL on ClutchPoints
By Lorenzo J Reyna, ClutchPoints | Last updated Jul 8, 2026 6:09 PM ET

The San Francisco 49ers still have the Brandon Aiyuk saga hovering above them. Yet with or without the wide receiver Aiyuk, SF’s system draws praise across the league. Even veteran defender Lavonte David can’t help but praise what coach Kyle Shanahan has installed.

The retired All-Pro linebacker told This is Football on ESPN Wednesday that San Francisco’s offense gave him the most fits.

“The way they did things, they kept it similar by keeping big personnel in, but they can spread you out,” David first explained. “You got guys moving all over the place.”

Indeed Shanahan loves motioning his players to create mismatches. David dealt with a complex system whenever he faced the 49ers.

“They made everything look exactly the same. So you couldn’t get a read on whether it was a run or a pass. It definitely kept me up at night,” David said.

Lavonte David on which offense gave him the most problems:

“San Francisco. The way they did things, they kept it similar by keeping big personnel in, but they can spread you out. You got guys moving all over the place… They made everything look exactly the same. So you couldn’t… pic.twitter.com/N6b2YF4km2

— Coach Yac (@Coach_Yac) July 8, 2026

David played all 14 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including aiming for NFC supremacy against the 49ers. But again, San Francisco tried to put David and the linebackers at a disadvantage by creating more one-on-ones. David got forced to make his tackles in space when facing Shanahan’s scheme.

San Francisco’s misdirection game was another that handed David and the Bucs fits. Shanahan even throws defenses off with heavy personnel and tries to instead take deep shots down the field off that formation. But David also adds how Shanahan wants to take defenses away from playing nickel coverage. Tampa became forced to keep its base defense against SF.

This article first appeared on NFL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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