Daniel Jeremiah has been high on the San Francisco 49ers this offseason and expects to see a vast improvement from the Kyle Shanahan-led squad. The NFL Network analyst loved the drafting of defensive end Nick Bosa. In fact, he's liked the upgrades to the defensive front as a whole. The unit, aside from defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, has played some uninspiring football in recent years. That could change this season.
Jeremiah joined KNBR on Thursday to discuss the Bay Area team.
Things aren't perfect just yet, Jeremiah admits. He still has concerns about the 49ers secondary and feels the mostly younger unit needs to find a way to make more plays. Still, even with some concerns, Jeremiah is expecting big things from the 2019 49ers.
"I just keep coming back to the fact that I think they addressed the two biggest departments in winning football," Jeremiah told Brian Murphy, Paul McCaffrey, and Bonnie-Jill Laflin, "which is you've got to have a solid quarterback, and you've got to have a defensive line that can rush the passer. And I don't know that there's a team, on paper, that's more upgraded from last season to this season, assuming Jimmy (Garoppolo) stays healthy and we see the guy that we saw at the end of [the 2017] season."
One guy the 49ers can't see on the field is the Jimmy Garoppolo who threw five interceptions in as many consecutive pass attempts during Wednesday's practice. Jeremiah didn't sound too concerned over the frustrating day for the quarterback who is returning from an ACL injury. It is, after all, just practice. Garoppolo had, until then, been pretty solid during training camp.
"How funny is that," Jeremiah said of the five-pick outing. "That was the story of the day, not just up in the Bay, but all over the country. People were talking about five throws, five picks for Garoppolo. I was like, 'Man, come on. It is practice. I know that's a lot of picks and very unusual, but let's not get crazy here.'
"I was fascinated that's how big the NFL is. Five bad plays in practice is a national story."
How good can the 49ers be this season? Jeremiah is confident that, for the first time in years, the team might be playing meaningful football in December. Not everyone shares his optimism, though.
"I think the 49ers are going to be pretty good, I really do," Jeremiah added. "I think they've got a chance to push for a playoff spot. And every time I say this, or tweet this, everybody just murders me on Twitter. But I do; I like this football team."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Jeremiah below.