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After playing without Jimmy Garoppolo for 23 games over the past three seasons, the San Francisco 49ers sought to improve their quarterback depth this offseason. They were aggressive about it, too. The team initially sat at No. 12 overall in the draft order and knew that might not cut it if it wanted one of the top quarterback prospects.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan fell in love with Trey Lance in January. So rather than worrying about what might happen around it, the team engineered a trade up to No. 3 overall to make sure Lance ended up in Santa Clara.
The increased quarterback depth and upgrade over Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard as backups influenced San Francisco coming in at No. 5 in Peter King's recent power ranking for NBC Sports. The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only NFC team ranked higher.
King further explained the high ranking during a Pro Football Talk segment with Mike Florio.
"The reason I put them so high is because what has stood in the way of the 49ers in three of the last four years," King shared. "What's stood in the way is that they have not had an above-average quarterback. They haven't had a top 10 quarterback playing in three of those four years."
Garoppolo was completely healthy in 2019, coming off an ACL injury the previous season. The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl and were one or two throws away from a championship. Garoppolo missed 10 games last season due to an ankle injury, and the 49ers finished with just six wins. It wasn't the follow-up to the Super Bowl campaign that the team envisioned.
"Now, when you look at the 49ers, if Garoppolo gets hurt, you've got to figure that Trey Lance -- maybe Trey Lance takes the job. You don't know," King continued. "But you've got to figure that Trey Lance is going to give them a lot better play than either Beathard or Mullens. So, I just look at this as a quarterback depth call."
King has received many fan responses criticizing the high ranking of the 49ers, declaring that San Francisco is overrated after winning six-or-fewer games in five of the past six seasons.
"In two of the last three years, they have had to play the majority of the season with a scrub quarterback," King added. "And so, at this point, I think the quarterbacks will make all the difference. It will help to have Nick Bosa, obviously, healthy for the year. But they are going to have the kind of play, and I think depth on offense as well, that's going to put them very close and make it a Rams-49ers tussle at the top of that division."
Where the 49ers landed in PFF's latest power ranking
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While it would be foolish to declare that the San Francisco 49ers lack any deficiencies, the team remains one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. That alone is enough to place them high on media power rankings.
The truth is, power rankings mean very little at this stage in the offseason. Yes, free agency has come and gone, but NFL rosters are about to undergo further changes this week, with the 2024 NFL Draft slated for Thursday.
Pro Football Focus' Amelia Probst posted a power ranking based on the analytics site's data on each roster and the offseason roster moves made so far. The San Francisco 49ers came in at No. 2, behind only the Kansas City
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Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
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Rapoport: 49ers send clear message to teams inquiring about Brandon Aiyuk
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Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
