It's always interesting to listen to NFL Network analyst Michael Silver discuss the San Francisco 49ers. He speaks of the Bay Area team with such great passion — not that his coverage of the other 31 NFL teams is too shabby. Silver, after all, grew up a fan of the 49ers and covered the team for years as a writer for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and a stint with the now-defunct Sacramento Union.

Injuries hit the 49ers hard last year after many predicted the team to be on the cusp of something special. Silver believes 2018's situation just delayed the inevitable and could see the upcoming season as a break-out year for Kyle Shanahan's squad.


"The NFC West is great again," Silver declared Friday on NFL Network. "You saw what Seattle did last year. Obviously, the Rams. And I think the 49ers have a chance to make that jump we thought they'd make last year with the return of a healthy Jimmy Garoppolo.

"We're not sure, Steve (Wyche), how much he'll do coming off the ACL in this minicamp but whoever is taking snaps for the 49ers is going to be looking at a pretty scary defensive front now with Dee Ford, Nick Bosa, elements of the Wide-9, and then DeForest Buckner and two other first-round picks on the inside. It's pretty scary."


The 49ers focused this offseason on improving their pass rush, which tied for No. 22 in the NFL last season. The team acquired Ford via a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs and then made Bosa the No. 2 overall draft pick in April.

The new pass-rushing bookends will join Buckner, who led the team last year with a career-high 12 sacks. The combination of Buckner, Ford, and Bosa could make things very difficult for opposing offensive lines as the 49ers hope to showcase one of the most improved pass rushes in 2019.

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As for Garoppolo, he is coming off of a torn ACL suffered in September but has been getting a lot of work in during organized team activities. He is expected to be medically cleared for 11-on-11 drills in training camp, and the hope is the quarterback will be the Week 1 starter in September.


Garoppolo feels like he can make every throw now but knows there are still aspects of his game he hasn't yet been able to test.

"The ropes down the field, the movement, escaping the pocket, and things like that," Garoppolo told reporters last week. "Just the awkward movements that you can't really predict in practice. Yeah, it's coming together nicely, though."

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