The San Francisco 49ers overcame significant adversity last season, losing several key contributors to injuries. Despite those setbacks, the team remained competitive down the stretch and ultimately secured a playoff berth.
Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport attempted to predict the NFL's top comeback players for 2026—players who missed more than half of the 2025 season—and included three 49ers on his list.
Mike Evans
The first player on Davenport's list is the 49ers' biggest offseason addition: veteran wide receiver Mike Evans.
Evans has already built a résumé worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, but 2025 marked an unusual season for the longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers star. A broken clavicle sidelined him for much of the year, resulting in the first season of his career in which he failed to surpass 1,000 receiving yards. Evans finished with 30 receptions for 368 yards and three touchdowns, with the reception and yardage totals setting career lows and the touchdown total matching a career low.
The early signs in San Francisco have been encouraging.
All-Pro tight end George Kittle recently praised Evans' performance during the 49ers' offseason program, noting the challenges he has already created for the team's defensive backs.
"He was cooking everybody, don't care who it is," Kittle said. "You can't just cover him one-on-one, really. He's going to win almost every single time."
Evans headlines the 49ers' offseason acquisitions and is expected to play a leading role in a revamped receiving corps.
"A 49ers team with Super Bowl aspirations badly needs someone to step up as the team's new No. 1 wide receiver, especially with Kittle rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered in the postseason a year ago," Davenport wrote.
"Evans has shown for over a decade that he's capable of being that guy. And if he's healthy again, he could put up some of the biggest numbers of his career in 2026."
Nick Bosa
Next on the list is defensive end Nick Bosa, who suffered the second ACL injury of his NFL career—and the third of his football career—last season.
Bosa appeared in just three games in 2025 before the injury ended his campaign, but he is expected to be ready for the start of the 2026 season.
For years, Bosa has been the centerpiece of San Francisco's pass rush. His absence created a ripple effect across a defense that struggled to pressure opposing quarterbacks consistently.
If Bosa returns to his pre-injury form, he could dramatically elevate the 49ers' defense. He has already proven capable of bouncing back from a major knee injury, recording 15.5 sacks in 2021 after his previous ACL tear, then leading the NFL with 18.5 sacks in 2022.
"When Bosa is at his apex, he's as good as any edge-rusher in the NFL," Davenport wrote. "In 2022, he topped 50 tackles, tallied a whopping 48 quarterback hits, led the NFL in sacks with 18.5, and won Defensive Player of the Year honors.
"That was the second of four straight Pro Bowl nods for the eight-year veteran. Bosa may not be Myles Garrett, but he isn't that far off—and the 49ers badly need him on the field and 100 percent in the season opener against Garrett and the Rams."
Fred Warner
Perhaps no injury was more devastating to the 49ers' defense last season than the loss of All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, who suffered a dislocated and fractured right ankle six games into the 2025 campaign.
Warner is widely regarded as the emotional and on-field leader of the defense, and his absence was felt throughout the unit.
"Just to be beside a guy like Fred, just always locked in, just his love for the game, it just radiates throughout the whole team," linebacker Dre Greenlaw said last month.
One of the NFL's most consistent defenders, Warner had never recorded fewer than 118 tackles in a season before last year's injury, according to Pro Football Reference. He had also missed just one game throughout his career before the setback.
Warner expects to be ready to go for training camp. In fact, miraculously, he would have returned for the playoffs last season had the 49ers advanced to the NFC Championship Game. Unfortunately, San Francisco's season ended one game short of that opportunity.
"A healthy Warner is in the conversation as the NFL's best off-ball linebacker," Davenport wrote. "He appears intent on reminding people of that this year."
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