Predict our next breakout player this season

adrian colbert and tartt become the best safety duo in the league!

On the offensive side, i think Kittle.

Offense - Kittle

Defense - Witherspoon and Thomas

Dante Pettis on offense and ST, Fred Warner on defense.

Kittle put a great show on for a rookie tight end and I expect great things this year.

On D it'll be hard for our secondary to shine without a pass rush but I hope/think Witherspoon becomes a top corner

Defense: Fred Warner

Foster will miss plenty of snaps to injuries and his suspension. That gives Warner the opportunity to pull ahead of Malcolm Smith. Smith was a role player in Seattle and an overrated backup. He'll make some plays in coverage, as will Warner, but Smith won't offer much beyond that. Warner will finish the season as a starter and open the door for Smith to move on.

Offense: Pierre Garçon

He's the forgotten man on offense. Everyone is talking about Goodwin, but Garçon will be our go-to guy. If he stays healthy I expect him to catch around 85 receptions, with 1150 yards. That would place him just inside the top-10 in receiving production. I think we'll see two 1000-yd receivers in SF this season.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:
Jet

easily

Defense : AA

ATT is spot on here. But this is a "3-fer" . If Arik goes from busting thru to then attacking and getting to the QB, that makes DeFo way, way better, and basically DeFo on his own, played lites out last yr. Now with AA AND DeFo playing lites out, with any improvement at all (and bet on it he WiLL be improved)...then Solly gets exponentially better, because of the greatly improved play of AA and Buck. It could turn out that the guy who REALLY looks most improved then would be DL #4, either Mitch, DJ, Day, Cassius...whoever the 4th guy is on the LOS. Last yr our DL was our strongest single unit. This yr if AA just finishes what he started last yr, then our DL will be someone nobody wants to face. Also, we are 3x better at LB this yr and probably 2x better at DB. Should all this come together, the way JL envisioned it, KILLER D this yr.

Remember, AA has been hurt basically last few yrs. He got that shoulder fixed. He also has had a different HC and DC every yr. So add in, greatly improved coaching for Arik, plus improvement on both sides of him, behind him, and in D backfield...like ATT, my money is on AA. If this is true and comes to pass...we go deep into playoffs this yr. Real deep.

And for grins, assuming JG's play is anything like his 5 game audition, the O may just control TOP virtually all games, and D has way less time on field this yr. If it were something ridiculous like 35 mins (or more), then the D also has way more energy and again, is better because of that. Not much has been said about john lynch, but looking at the big picture, this guy came to play. We all see it but how in the world could one guy so transform a team at most every slot in just a mere 16 months? I would have to add JL as one of our "breakout" players this yr.

Regarding AA, I wouldn't mind seeing an occasional 46 bear defense to see if Solomon, AA, and Buckner can pressure the QB from inside.

The defense started off as a simple blitz package, but by 1981, it was Chicago's base defense. By 1985, Ryan had finished tweaking and perfecting his brainchild, and by then it was nearly unstoppable.
The personnel is the same as in a 4-3 defense, possessing four down lineman, three linebackers, two corners and two safeties. The difference was in the lineup.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/433093-xs-and-os-the-46-defense-what-it-was-and-where-it-went

Originally posted by Giedi:
I wouldn't mind seeing an occasional 46 bear defense

The defense started off as a simple blitz package, but by 1981, it was Chicago's base defense. By 1985, Ryan had finished tweaking and perfecting his brainchild, and by then it was nearly unstoppable.
The personnel is the same as in a 4-3 defense, possessing four down lineman, three linebackers, two corners and two safeties. The difference was in the lineup.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/433093-xs-and-os-the-46-defense-what-it-was-and-where-it-went

Saleh does this.

Originally posted by Heroism:
Saleh does this.

Well sure, I think all DC's do this, but only occasionally and probably only on goal line situations. I think if AA, Solomon, and Buckner develop - and we still don't have that elite edge rusher, I'd like to see more bear 46 defenses since it goes to the strength of the D Line. Just sitting back in nickel and rush 4 - if there is no edge rusher - is just playing bend but don't break, and I'd rather go with the 46 because the 46 takes advantage of an offense doubling the interior line to get middle pressure.

Originally posted by strickac:
Defense: Fred Warner

Foster will miss plenty of snaps to injuries and his suspension. That gives Warner the opportunity to pull ahead of Malcolm Smith. Smith was a role player in Seattle and an overrated backup. He'll make some plays in coverage, as will Warner, but Smith won't offer much beyond that. Warner will finish the season as a starter and open the door for Smith to move on.

Offense: Pierre Garçon

He's the forgotten man on offense. Everyone is talking about Goodwin, but Garçon will be our go-to guy. If he stays healthy I expect him to catch around 85 receptions, with 1150 yards. That would place him just inside the top-10 in receiving production. I think we'll see two 1000-yd receivers in SF this season.

If the 49ers have two 1000 yard WRs then I think something went wrong with the season. Either Kittle/Jet/Taylor underperformed/injured, or Jimmy is chucking it 40 times a game, which isn't ideal. There should be a better distribution among the pass catchers in this offense with contributions from all.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by strickac:
Defense: Fred Warner

Foster will miss plenty of snaps to injuries and his suspension. That gives Warner the opportunity to pull ahead of Malcolm Smith. Smith was a role player in Seattle and an overrated backup. He'll make some plays in coverage, as will Warner, but Smith won't offer much beyond that. Warner will finish the season as a starter and open the door for Smith to move on.

Offense: Pierre Garçon

He's the forgotten man on offense. Everyone is talking about Goodwin, but Garçon will be our go-to guy. If he stays healthy I expect him to catch around 85 receptions, with 1150 yards. That would place him just inside the top-10 in receiving production. I think we'll see two 1000-yd receivers in SF this season.

If the 49ers have two 1000 yard WRs then I think something went wrong with the season. Either Kittle/Jet/Taylor underperformed/injured, or Jimmy is chucking it 40 times a game, which isn't ideal. There should be a better distribution among the pass catchers in this offense with contributions from all.

Agree, I would say Ideally the breakdown would be about around 1/3-ish of total receptions goes to a WR, 1/3 the RB (McKinnon?), and 1/3 to Kittle.

Trent Taylor. He's the waterbug this team has been missing. Just like the Patriots, we'll find a way to get him more involved esp in the endzone!

Originally posted by thl408:

If the 49ers have two 1000 yard WRs then I think something went wrong with the season. Either Kittle/Jet/Taylor underperformed/injured, or Jimmy is chucking it 40 times a game, which isn't ideal. There should be a better distribution among the pass catchers in this offense with contributions from all.

Garcon and Goodwin were on pace to hit it last season, but injuries got in the way. With a full season of Jimmy passing and a healthy Garçon and Goodwin, two 1000 yard receivers should be expected.

There's still another 2000 yards worth of receiving yards to be distributed. I think the running game makes positive strides forward, which will open things up for Jimmy.

Foster if he stays healthy has a chance to be great. Like hof great imo

Originally posted by strickac:

Originally posted by thl408:
If the 49ers have two 1000 yard WRs then I think something went wrong with the season. Either Kittle/Jet/Taylor underperformed/injured, or Jimmy is chucking it 40 times a game, which isn't ideal. There should be a better distribution among the pass catchers in this offense with contributions from all.

Garcon and Goodwin were on pace to hit it last season, but injuries got in the way. With a full season of Jimmy passing and a healthy Garçon and Goodwin, two 1000 yard receivers should be expected.

There's still another 2000 yards worth of receiving yards to be distributed. I think the running game makes positive strides forward, which will open things up for Jimmy.

Goodwin had most of his receiving yards when Garcon was out (613 yards over the last 8 games compared to 349 in the 8 games he played with Garcon). And Garcon had exactly 500 yards in 8 games, so in the 8 games they played together (which weren't with Jimmy G admittedly), they put up 849 yards.

It's not impossible, but odds are we won't have two 1000+ yard receivers (two 1000 yard receivers usually equates to more like 2200-2500 receiving yards since they don't usually both hit 1000 on the dot). Even if we throw the ball a lot, Goodwin and Garcon aren't elite WRs, so I imagine we'll spread the ball around and keep Kittle and McKinnon involved in the passing game plus a slot receiver and another TE.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Kendrick Bourne

this answer took too many posts to get to. He is the one.