The San Francisco 49ers finished the season with a disappointing record of 6-10. It was so disappointing because the team's hopes were much loftier. The 49ers were coming off a Super Bowl appearance and focused on returning to the big game.
Injuries changed those plans.
San Francisco's roster was almost unrecognizable after only a handful of games. Added to that, the team spent the last month of the season in Arizona after being forced out of Santa Clara County due to COVID-19 restrictions banning contact sports.
"The second week of the year, we didn't have the same team," head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week. "I think we had a pretty unprecedented amount of injuries by Week 2. And then I thought that was rock-bottom, and it wasn't. It was the starting of about 30 other bad things that kept happening, all the way to getting kicked out of our homes by our county to come out here for a month."
ESPN doesn't believe the 49ers require a significant offseason overhaul, listing the team as "surprisingly comfortable." The roster just needs to get healthy. Shanahan and general manager John Lynch shouldn't overreact to the insurmountable number of injuries the team endured this past season.
Part of that should include strongly considering keeping quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Moving in another direction might set back the team. San Francisco could still plan for the future at the position while keeping its starter.
"Gauge trade interest for oft-injured Jimmy Garoppolo, but ultimately consider reasons to keep him too," wrote Jeremy Fowler. "The 49ers are 24-10 with Garoppolo and 7-25 without him since 2017. Keeping him doesn't preclude San Francisco from drafting a quarterback in the first round and applying pressure on the veteran."
As for the injuries, those are things that need to be looked into. Yes, every team has dealt with injuries, and 2020 has been a strange season. Yet, no NFL team has been as unfortunate as San Francisco when it comes to the health of its players.
"It would be helpful to find out what's causing all these injuries to virtually every position and use that information to prevent them in 2021," adds Fowler. "Keep either (Jason) Verrett or Richard Sherman at corner, but not both; can't afford both, because re-signing linebacker Fred Warner (a 2022 free agent) and left tackle Williams are paramount."