The San Francisco 49ers worked this offseason, and during the draft, specifically, to replace key offseason losses in defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. The team traded Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts when it became apparent that it wouldn't be able to afford him long-term. Sanders bolted for the New Orleans Saints via free agency.
Team decision-makers John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan used their two first-round picks to fill those voids, selecting defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw at No. 14 and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk at No. 25. On paper, the 49ers look ready to make another Super Bowl run, but NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner wonders if simply drafting replacements for Buckner and Sanders was enough.
"I believe their roster, top to bottom, with a lot of guys returning, is good enough to get them back to the Super Bowl," Warner told Colleen Wolfe on Wednesday. "... If you just look position to position, you say, 'They got younger talent there, but we shouldn't have a problem because we filled those voids.'
"But when I look at this team, it's really about leadership. When I look at those two players that they've lost, and I say when Emmanuel Sanders came in last year, San Francisco became a different team. He took a lot of pressure off of the young quarterback, the young wide receivers they had, and he stepped up and made big plays at big moments."
Warner feels the same can be said of Buckner, who was part of a dominant defensive line. Like Sanders on offense, Buckner was clearly one of the defense's most respected leaders.
"Talent-wise, no question they're good enough to make another run at the Super Bowl," Warner added. "But can they replace the leadership of those key components that they lost this offseason is probably the biggest question for me."
Second-year pass rusher Nick Bosa feels that, despite the losses, the 49ers roster still has several players ready to take over as leaders.
"We still have plenty of leadership on the team, I think," Bosa told reporters via a video conference call on Wednesday. "But for the guys like me and Deebo (Samuel), and Dre (Greenlaw), rookies that played a lot, we're not just deers in headlights anymore. We know the routine. We know how an NFL season works. And now we can really just take the next step, and just work on honing our game and really studying our opponents now that we played them once."
That doesn't mean the defense won't feel Buckner's absence.
Added Bosa: "Just losing him as a leader, we're going to have to really figure out how to step up and fill that void."