This season has been a disaster for the San Francisco 49ers. Injuries have decimated the roster, and former quarterback turned ESPN analyst Steve Young believes they have ended the team's Super Bowl — and maybe even playoff — hopes.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle are the latest injuries to hit the 49ers. Both are expected to miss significant time. In fact, we may have seen the last of both of them this season.
"At this point, with those two going out, I think going back to the Super Bowl is not going to happen," Young said on ESPN's NFL Countdown. "How do we get into a playoff picture? You've got to go 6-2 from here. Look at the teams they've got to play. They've got the Bills, they've got to play in the division, they've got to go to New Orleans. This looks like a disastrous year."
Young also believes this may be the end of the marriage between Garoppolo and head coach Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers can easily escape the quarterback's contract after this season, and many believe that the team might look to do exactly that.
Young feels that Shanahan probably wanted to use this season to evaluate if Garoppolo could be the team's long-term answer at quarterback. With Garoppolo missing significant time for the second season in three years, the coach may look to move on from his quarterback.
"It creates a focus on the one question coming into this year that you had about the 49ers," Young continued. "Can we get to a place where Kyle Shanahan, this innovative offensive coordinator, one of the best head coaches in the league, can find a quarterback that he can trust and just be expansive with, rather than protect? And I think that's been the issue with Jimmy.
"And I think that $25 million and a shrinking salary cap, with this injury ... I just don't know how Jimmy ends up being the quarterback for the 49ers next year."
Adam Schefter adds that with Garoppolo's contract situation what it is, the 49ers will likely be looking at their quarterback options moving forward.
"All (options) would be in play," speculates Schefter. "It's not like Jimmy G has this job locked up."