Your Biggest Concerns Entering 2025 Season? (Shanahan's 9th Year) | Page 6

LottDMontanaO · 2025-05-15T12:50:33-07:00

The schedule is out. The draft is done. Acquisitions via FA & Trades can still happen. Assuming Purdy's contract is done, what are your biggest concerns going into the 2025-26 season? Some that are top of mind for me (it all starts in the trenches IMO): DEFENSE DL: 1) Stopping the run is #1 – really relying on the rookies to make a big impact here; 2) Having a better overall pass rush; 3) Will the existing guys + rookies help make this a dominant DL? LB: With Greenlaw gone, will any younger LBs such as Martin & Winters seize the opportunity and be playmakers alongside Warner? S: 1) Mustapha's health – hopefully he gets back sooner than later; 2) Do they have enough talent overall here? CB: Ward is gone but glad this team has Lenoir – will other guys step up such as Green, who had a good first year as a rookie? OFFENSE OL: 1) Will they be better in both the running & passing game (will they give Purdy the protection he needs)?; 2) Assuming Williams plays and is healthy, LG & C are main concerns. RB: 1) CMC's health – crucial for this team that he's back & healthy; 2) Guerendo's health - can he stay healthy & build on what he showed last year?; 3) Hoping James shows promise; otherwise, depth could be very thin. WR: 1) Really hoping Aiyuk is back sooner than later & stays healthy; 2) Can other guys besides Jennings make an impact?; 3) Need Pearsall to be a consistent producer. Special Teams: 1) Important 3rd Phase of the game yet an ongoing problem area - will the new coach help turn things around & yield much better results?; 2) Will Moody finally put it all together?; 3) Hopefully Wish is back healthy.

Jun 11, 2025 at 9:29 AM

#76

miked1978
Veteran
Posts: 12,580

Offense:

Redzone scoring. It was an issue last year
Can Shanny find his magic again. Kittle needs 10+ targets every game. a healthy Aiyuk needs 8+ targets per game.
Manage workload with RBs a lot better then previous years. We have a stable of backs, use them. Limit CMC's snaps.
Find a way to get everyone involved. Seems like the backup WRs got playing time last year but they were never targeted. Get them involved!!!

Defense:

Can our secondary hold up? Really young back there in both corner and safety
Lots of young guys on defense so I don't expect a massive shift in rankings with this unit but i do hope we are middle of a pack defense overall

Overall:
Give the young guys a shot. Play them and let them develop through ups and downs. This will set us up for the future.

Jun 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM

#77

Scoots
Veteran
Posts: 2,580

Originally posted by miked1978:
Offense:

Redzone scoring. It was an issue last year

Can Shanny find his magic again. Kittle needs 10+ targets every game. a healthy Aiyuk needs 8+ targets per game.

Manage workload with RBs a lot better then previous years. We have a stable of backs, use them. Limit CMC's snaps.

Find a way to get everyone involved. Seems like the backup WRs got playing time last year but they were never targeted. Get them involved!!!

Defense:

Can our secondary hold up? Really young back there in both corner and safety

Lots of young guys on defense so I don't expect a massive shift in rankings with this unit but i do hope we are middle of a pack defense overall

Overall:
Give the young guys a shot. Play them and let them develop through ups and downs. This will set us up for the future.
__PRESENT__PRESENT

- Redzone ... A healthy CMC fixes a lot of it, better line play and new options should help too.
- Shanny magic ... If Aiyuk and Kittle are being keyed and the ball never goes to them it could mean the team is dominating. They key is not targets to your two best targets, but scheming other options open so the defense has to respond and be balanced.
- Limit CMC rushes ... that doesn't mean he can't be on the field as a decoy or as a receiver which is less wear and tear on his body. Guerendo next to CMC in a pro-set could be really interesting if Isaac can learn to lead block.
- Get everyone involved ... Kind of goes against forcing targets to Aiyuk and Kittle. Saleh accepts that a deep rotation is going to mean worse performance in the short run for better performance in the long run. I'm not sure Kyle can do that.
- Secondary ... THAT is the big question, particularly early in the season when the best safety will be out and not only the DBs will be young but the line and linebackers will be young too. If the line is great it makes the LBs and DBs jobs easier. If the LBs are great it makes the DLs and DBs jobs easier. Same for DBs. We need at least one group to really step up, and the best chance to do it is the DBs I think since Saleh makes their lives so much easier than the other 2 groups.

- Pay them ... this is the big issue. The team doesn't seem likely to pay the 2nd best player in any group upper-middle of the pack money, so if one group is dominant the timeline it can stay there is going to be limited.

Jun 11, 2025 at 6:46 PM

#78

dlance
Veteran
Posts: 1,072

Originally posted by Scoots:

Originally posted by dlance:
Can the secondary hold up?
Injury's on the O line will make it below average!
can CMC and Purdy stay healthy ?

Comes down to a couple of guys stepping up big.

I can see someone in the secondary maybe stepping up.
I do not know how the o line is going to make it injury free, with the depth they are going to be in trouble.

Jun 11, 2025 at 7:23 PM

#79

Scoots
Veteran
Posts: 2,580

Originally posted by dlance:

Originally posted by Scoots:

Originally posted by dlance:
Can the secondary hold up?
Injury's on the O line will make it below average!
can CMC and Purdy stay healthy ?

Comes down to a couple of guys stepping up big.

I can see someone in the secondary maybe stepping up.
I do not know how the o line is going to make it injury free, with the depth they are going to be in trouble.

Burford, Zakelj, Pleasants, Hennesey, and Dillard all have decent potential for this season. The others are less likely to contribute this year so they will probably be on the PS unless they dominate.

There is decent potential, it's just we can't know until we know. But it's reasonable to assume the coaches have a better idea than we do.

Jun 12, 2025 at 7:34 AM

#80

paulk205
Veteran
Posts: 947

Injuries, obviously.

This is a rebuild year, but it is a fun rebuild if there are no major losses to injury. Lots of youngsters that could make an impact, a sprinkling of aging but hopefully still great veterans to provide a spine. We could be in for a fun year as an outsider - I can't see us making much noise in the playoffs, but it should be interesting as long as we don't go through another 2020 or 2024 injury-wise.

Jun 12, 2025 at 7:38 AM

#81

TopDogBerkeley
Veteran
Posts: 524

The Safeties are going to be a concern. Mustapha will not be back until game 6 or so and is coming back from a serious injury. Brown has been questionable as a starter and just had a surgical procedure. They signed Pinnock and Grant but both were average as starters. Sigle is a rookie so not sure what to expect from him.

Jun 12, 2025 at 9:42 AM

#82

Scoots
Veteran
Posts: 2,580

Originally posted by TopDogBerkeley:
The Safeties are going to be a concern. Mustapha will not be back until game 6 or so and is coming back from a serious injury. Brown has been questionable as a starter and just had a surgical procedure. They signed Pinnock and Grant but both were average as starters. Sigle is a rookie so not sure what to expect from him.

Mustapha should be back for game 5. Brown should be better in his first time playing for a good DC. He showed flashes as a rookie so we have to hope.

Other than Brown being actually good, the only other hope is really Sigle being somehow incredible.

That said there isn't really anyone available right now that clearly improves things.

Aug 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM

#83

LottDMontanaO
Veteran
Posts: 7,799

Overall depth after watching the entire game last night. It's preseason but that was really bad on many levels. This is football & it's a long season...injuries will happen and that depth will be tested.

OL
RB
WR

DL
LB
Secondary

ST (has consistently been a concern but am hopeful w/ a new ST coach)

Other than that...

Really just have to hope the starters can stay on the field & be as healthy as possible. Every team hopes that but this team in particular with the quality of talent it has in its starters yet then the drop off with the depth.

There's always hope the backups & rookies will learn & pick it up as the preseason continues and then be ready to make a good contribution when called upon once the season starts.

[ Edited by LottDMontanaO on Aug 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM ]

Aug 10, 2025 at 2:51 PM

#84

DonnieDarko
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Posts: 66,657

Still interior D

Aug 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM

#85

Fanaticofnfl
Veteran
Posts: 20,877

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:
Still interior D

Nah, West looked good.

It's OL. And it'll be OL until Shanny dies.

Aug 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM

#86

LottDMontanaO
Veteran
Posts: 7,799

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:
Still interior D

Agreed, that's a big one. Really such a key to this D in starting things off w/ stopping the run. Really hoping Collins & West can make progress as rookies and sooner than later help anchor things down in the middle. But again, they're rookies and there's a learning curve - learning the NFL trenches & then being able to win against that type of talent can take some time.

Aug 10, 2025 at 3:12 PM

#87

LottDMontanaO
Veteran
Posts: 7,799

Good thing the season doesn't start today - the thought of Elliott & K. Davis starting in the interior gives nightmares & would be an open invitation to any team to run it right up the gut:

If the season started today (assuming minor injuries are cleared), seems to me that the 49ers' starting 4 base-down D-linemen would be:

Nick Bosa
Jordan Elliott
Kalia Davis
Mykel Williams

Kalia capitalizing on his longest healthy stretch; Elliott is needed with Givens down,…
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 10, 2025

Aug 10, 2025 at 3:26 PM

#88

DonnieDarko
Veteran
Posts: 66,657

Originally posted by LottDMontanaO:
Good thing the season doesn't start today - the thought of Elliott & K. Davis starting in the interior gives nightmares & would be an open invitation to any team to run it right up the gut:

If the season started today (assuming minor injuries are cleared), seems to me that the 49ers' starting 4 base-down D-linemen would be:

Nick Bosa
Jordan Elliott
Kalia Davis
Mykel Williams

Kalia capitalizing on his longest healthy stretch; Elliott is needed with Givens down,…
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 10, 2025

Ya if the rookies can't develop quick enough, that interior DL scares the s**t out me

Aug 10, 2025 at 5:22 PM

#89

Bringbackedjr
Veteran
Posts: 2,358

1. Injuries
2. Oline and missed blocks kill Purdy
3. Stale ineffective offensive scheme run by backups because the 1s and 2s are in hospital beds or casts

Aug 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM

#90

Scoots
Veteran
Posts: 2,580

Originally posted by LottDMontanaO:
Good thing the season doesn't start today - the thought of Elliott & K. Davis starting in the interior gives nightmares & would be an open invitation to any team to run it right up the gut:

If the season started today (assuming minor injuries are cleared), seems to me that the 49ers' starting 4 base-down D-linemen would be:

Nick Bosa
Jordan Elliott
Kalia Davis
Mykel Williams

Kalia capitalizing on his longest healthy stretch; Elliott is needed with Givens down,…
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 10, 2025

Elliot injured.