The power has gone out at Candlestick Park

In February, ESPN released its "way-too-early" power rankings following the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers came in at No. 3, with the two Super Bowl participants, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, as the only teams ranked higher. Over a month later, with the bulk of significant free-agency moves in the books, not much has changed for head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad. The Eagles have dropped out of the top three, falling from the No. 2 spot to fourth, replaced by the Cincinnati Bengals. The Niners remain at No. 3. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

Trey Lance entered this past season as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. However, a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2 ended his 2022 campaign, opening the door for Jimmy Garoppolo and, eventually, rookie Brock Purdy. Purdy, the last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, showed that he could play at the pro level. The first-year passer entered the game for an injured Garoppolo, leading the 49ers to a Week 13 win over the Miami Dolphins, followed by seven consecutive victories as a starter. Had Purdy not suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he would likely be the undisputed Week 1 starter for the 2023 season. Of course, the 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers made a call to former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during the 2022 season after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a broken foot. Despite rookie Brock Purdy stepping in and leading the team to a December 4 win over the Miami Dolphins, the 49ers understandably opted to look into all their options, including finding out if Roethlisberger might be interested in temporarily pausing his retirement. "Last year, there were some truths to the Niners thing," Roethlisberger told Mark Madden at 105.9 The X,

Mike McGlinchey received a life-changing payday, signing a five-year, $87.5 million deal with the Denver Broncos. The offensive tackle has known for a while that he would not return to the San Francisco 49ers, the only NFL team he has played for and the one that made him the No. 9 overall pick in 2018. General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear to McGlinchey that he was likely playing his final months for the team. There was too much money invested in other spots, and the 49ers knew they couldn't compete with other interested teams. Behind the scenes, Lynch and Shanahan kept McGlinchey in the loop of what the team was thinking, and everything pointed to the tackle playing elsewhere in 2023 … maybe even