Feeling quietly confident about the upcoming season

Shanalynch obviously know more then we do. The fact they are willing to trade away 2 first round picks to move up and get Trey Lance tells me that they don't think they will be drafting in the top 10 for the next couple of seasons. They think they are drafting in the high twenties. What is the point of holding on to those first round picks when you are never ever going to get the guy that you want with a 28th pick in the first round or worse? They are thinking these picks they traded away are so deep into the first round that they might has well be second round picks. I like this level of confidence. They have reinforced the OLine and RB positions in particular and boosted pretty much all the positions on both sides of the ball. They have taken advantage of a free agent market that is down in price because of the lower cap and signed some good players there. These guys have a plan. Its subtle and yet well thought out. I like it. Some small things I didn't like was them letting Beathard move on. I thought he played better then Mullen, and for the love of god did not understand why Mullens kept starting after Jimmy went down.

If Trey Lance is as smart as they say he is, he will pick up Shanahan's system. halfway into the season. And if Jimmy goes down after that, lets see what he can do. The NFC West is tough this year, but Bosa's back. Good luck to their QBs. I would say our backup QB group this year is one of the strongest in the NFL, versus being a source of weakness last season. The schedule looks great this year. Our toughest opponents will be within our own division. Outside of our division, our toughest opponent is Green Bay, and we own them when healthy. Without AR, it might be a lot easier to beat them. I don't see the Lions, Jags, Titans, Houston, and the Bengals giving us any troubles. I bet ShanaLynch is thinking the same. We go 500 in our own division and win against those other teams that we should, its 10 plus wins, and it will make our first round picks nothing special to shout about. That makes the trade up to 3 worth it.

I think it's unlikely the injury big hits as bad as last year. We're a 10 or 11 win team nominally, potentially 12 or 13 wins. Definitely playoff picture, but our division should be stout too.

In terms of SB contenders, I was pessimistic on it last year and am pessimistic about it this year. I think we will be a solid to good team that will compete for a playoff spot in that 10-7 to 11-6 zone (17 games is so wrong).

The main reason is that I don't think our D-line is the team strength that it was in 2019 that drove our SB run. Bucker is gone and Ford is as good as done. Bosa is a stud and Kinlaw has a lot of potential but a) needs to show it b) will probably not be the same interior pass rusher that Bucker was. At the same time, the defensive backfield probably has less talent now and everyone has only gotten older. Demeco Ryans is an unknown at DC.

Reasons to be hopeful are that we still have elite talent in Bosa, Warner, Kittle, and Williams. Rising talent in Aiyuk, Samuel, and Kinlaw. Shanahan is still an amazing offensive coach who can get the best of that talent. If we contend again, I believe it will have to be a more offense-driven team compared to 2019.

IMO, 10 wins would be a great season. The division is murders' row. There's 3 tough defenses, all with quick strike offenses. There are no gimme games within the division.

If Jimmy stays healthy we've got a legit chance to win the division. Our secondary depth scares me a little. Aside from that though, our roster is as good as it was during the Super Bowl run, possibly better.

If I had to put money on it, I'd go with us getting a wildcard spot. If Jimmy goes down... nada this year.

I say 12-14 wins. Just need to stay healthy, plus this years schedule looks softer than previous years.

W/O Bosa, I worry about the pass rush which equal to SECONDARY NIGHTMARE...

It's honestly hard for me to evaluate, and that's a good thing. I felt the same way before our SB run. We added a lot of talent via FA and the draft and drafted an amazing talent at the top of the first round. I'm not going to predict SB or really anything because like I said it's hard to evaluate. I will say if health is on our side, I think we will be a deep playoff team.

If Rodgers doesn't play in the NFC and with Brees retiring and with Brady battling Father Time, the team that gets out of the NFC West should be in the driver's seat to get to the SB!

Originally posted by 9moon:
W/O Bosa, I worry about the pass rush which equal to SECONDARY NIGHTMARE...

Why Dee Fords coming back and our offense should be solid with Hurd in the line up.

Now if you'll excuse me; I have to go find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

If the niners don't have another biblical wave of injuries I'm sure an NFCCG appearance is easily a possibility.

If we are healthy we win this division. Probally still have the best Dline and best Oline in the division. Best running game, best schemes, best linebacker crew, best TE, We match up well at WR and Safety, decent at corner. And now we have two QB's that can start. Our current starting QB and our future. If Jimmy gets hurt in like week 5 or 6 we are not going to say oh sh*t we are done. We have proven we can win with Jimmy, So I have no issue with Trey sitting for abit. With the Jets, Pats, and bears their 1st RD rookie QB shouldn't be starting either but they probally will because they have no choice. Jets in particular should have kept Darnold IMO so they don't have to throw Wilson out there before he is ready. They are going to ruin another QB.

Fields should sit for Dalton but this is the Bears we are talking about.

It may take a full training camp and even a healthy September where we regress to the mean with the injuries before I start to feel too confident. I like the roster but I'm still a little shell shocked.

Rams: meh..we own them. A loser QB on the wrong side of 30 isn't going to help them close the gap. Stafford is alright, but some people treat him like he's Peyton Manning all a sudden

Seahawks: their team has been on the decline for years, yet they some how keep stumbling their way to 10/11 win seasons.

Cardinals: Kliff Kingsberry

As long as the 49ers don't get completely decimated with injuries again, they'll win the West by 2 or 3 games

We are in a nice position where we can compete for a championship now but also don't have to win now because most of our elite players are young and our franchise QB is only 21 and will be on a rookie deal for the next 5 years. Far different than the Rams sitauation, They have to win a SB in the next 2 years. Stafford is 33 with a bunch wear and tear on his body over the years and Donald their best player is turning 30 in a couple of weeks. They don't have alot of elite talent that you can say will be in their prime for the next 5 years. 3 years from now it's going to be about the Niners and Cardinals.

Originally posted by JTB1974:
We are in a nice position where we can compete for a championship now but also don't have to win now because most of our elite players are young and our franchise QB is only 21 and will be on a rookie deal for the next 5 years. Far different than the Rams sitauation, They have to win a SB in the next 2 years. Stafford is 33 with a bunch wear and tear on his body over the years and Donald their best player is turning 30 in a couple of weeks. They don't have alot of elite talent that you can say will be in their prime for the next 5 years. 3 years from now it's going to be about the Niners and Cardinals.

The rams have Donald, Ramsey, Cupp and Stafford. That's about it. Any significant injuries and they are out of the wild card race imo.