The San Francisco 49ers made the playoffs in 2025, were among the best teams in the strongest conference and division, but still felt like they were a tier below the Seahawks and the Rams.
The gap is primarily due to the rosters. The 49ers’ top-heavy approach didn’t work out last year because their stars went down with injury. It’s why adding depth and laying the foundation in this draft was so critical for the Niners.
An aggressive offseason put San Francisco back in the catbird seat of the NFC. My early prediction is that they’ll battle the Rams, Lions, and Cowboys for the best record in the conference.
Today, we’ll focus on how much the 49ers will improve compared to the product they put on the field last season by going through each position.
Quarterback
No changes here. The trade market for Mac Jones never heated up. Kurtis Rourke had a mini-audition back in December, after practicing for a few weeks. How much of that performance was tied to the team’s asking price, which was allegedly astronomical.
In an ideal world, neither step onto the field in 2026, and we see a full season of Brock Purdy’s playmaking ability in the Kyle Shanahan offense. Great, not good things have happened for the organization when that’s been the case.
Verdict: Better, but under the assumption that Purdy starts more than nine games.
Running back
Christian McCaffrey ran for 1,202 yards, and 982 of those came after contact. His rushing yards over expected were -166. Compare that to +349 in 2023, as well as no runs faster than 18 miles per hour, and you can’t help but think Father Time has his sights set on CMC.
The 49ers have drafted running backs annually, but the one from the 2026 NFL Draft might be needed sooner rather than later if history repeats itself for players with 400+ touches in the previous season.
Let’s act as if McCaffrey’s workload lightens, and he takes a step back production-wise. The question is now how much more to the table Kaelon Black and Jordan James bring than Brian Robinson did last season.
Robinson was the definition of “getting what’s blocked,” although I’d argue he left plenty of meat on the bone. Add that to the lack of a threat in the passing game, and it made it difficult to take him off the field. Black has more juice, while James could prove to be the best runner of the three.
Verdict: Addition by subtraction, plus a less-is-more role for McCaffrey, could lead to a more productive backfield in 2026. The 49ers’ backfield will be better in 2026.
Tight end
This position hinges on George Kittle’s health. If No. 85 plays 15 games, this group will be improved. Kittle remained one of the biggest mismatches last season. His yards after the catch were the lowest they’ve been in his career, but that says more about the next position we’ll talk about, as well as Kittle’s availability, than the tight end group.
But we also have to acknowledge that Kittle is coming off an Achilles injury at his age. Because the team stayed stagnant — which will be a theme in this article — they’ll be viewed as worse heading into the season. As Bo Schembechler said, “Every day, you either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same.”
Wide receiver
The 49ers will take the field with Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, and De’Zhaun Stribling as their top four wide receivers. Compare that to a season ago, when it was Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, and Demarcus Robinson.
Jennings didn’t sign until after the draft, while Bourne signed a one-year deal worth up to $5 million. Everywhere he’s been, Robinson has been WR4. He’s never been a player that teams relied on in the passing game. But the 49ers did in the postseason last year.
That changes in 2026. Pearsall won’t have the pressure of being Purdy’s primary target and going against the opposing team’s best cornerback. That’s why you go out and sign Evans. Stribling’s jersey number could be yet another sign of the role he’ll fill, while Kirk takes on the slot receiver who runs away from people on crossing routes and can stretch the field.
Verdict: The room may not be on par with 2023, but it’s as close as the 49ers have come to that kind of star power in two years. Better, by a good margin.
Offensive line
Ideally, Dominick Puni doesn’t enter the season with a nagging injury that hampered him for the first two months last year. If Jake Brendel and Colton McKivitz pick up where they left off last season, the offensive line will be a strength for the second consecutive season. Trent Williams should be motivated after he got his money.
That leaves left guard. A position where three players played last season. It makes it tough from a camaraderie standpoint when there’s a revolving door at left guard.
If Robert Jones played as he did in 2024 with the Dolphins, the Niners might have their best offensive line ever under Shanahan. But if it’s Connor Colby…gulp.
Verdict: The 49ers generally lean on the vets. The free agent signings suggest that if there are any injuries, they will lean on experience. Because of that, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and project this unit to be better in 2026.
Defensive line
Inevitably, a position group getting more than 2.1 games out of Nick Bosa will drastically improve. Instead of Clelin Ferrell, Keion White, and Sam Okuayinonu starting on the other side of Bosa, first-rounder Mykel Williams slots into that spot. Sam O and White return to their respective depth roles.
The biggest acquisition this offseason wasn’t the future Hall of Fame receiver; it was one of the best interior pass rushers in the league in Osa Odighizuwa. The pressure he’ll take off the rest of the defensive tackles should be on full display right away. Odighizuwa allows every other player in this group to do what they do well.
Romello Height and Gracen Halton can provide splash plays, and that should be enough if Bosa and Mykel remain healthy.
Verdict: No position group on the roster improved more than this one.
Linebacker
Like Bosa, the position group getting back a player you can pencil in as an All-Pro is bound to improve. But I’ll push back on the consensus here that Dre Greenlaw will be an upgrade from Dee Winters. I do not believe that to be the case.
Winters, playing next to Warner, looked like a picture-perfect fit. It was a different story once Warner went down with an injury in Week 6. Fans soured on Winters as missed tackles added up, but he’s more reliable in coverage than Greenlaw.
Now that Warner is back in the fold, it should allow Raheem Morris to limit Dre’s coverage responsibilities, but you can’t hide him forever.
There’s also the elephant in the room: last year’s third-round pick, Nick Martin. We don’t know what to expect from him because there is nothing to go off Martin other than a dozen or so snaps as a rookie.
Verdict: Projecting Warner to play a full season has to mean the linebackers will be better, but once you get past soft factors like “vibes” and “energy,” I don’t see Greenlaw as an upgrade over Winters, and that’s acknowledging it was more of a business move than anything. So I don’t believe the Niners got better.
Cornerback
The 49ers added some veteran depth and a fourth-round rookie, but it’s unlikely they’ll supplant last year’s starters. Upton Stout should be better in Year 2. But what did you see from Deommodore Lenoir as an outside cornerback last year to suggest another year will be better? As for Renardo Green, it’s a year where his future hinges on his performance.
I fully expect the defense to be much improved, but that’ll be because of the defensive line. But if you’ve watched Jack Jones and Nate Hobbs, you’re not sitting there with excitement about the cornerback room.
Verdict: Stagnant, despite the additions. It’s not fair to give the corners credit for the defensive line improvements. We’re looking at it on an individual basis, and teams did not fear the Niners cornerbacks last year. Nothing changed, so we can’t say this group got better.
Safeties
We can copy and paste the above. Malik Mustapha, who is further away from a knee injury, should be better. Warner policing the middle of the field makes life easier on Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown. Maybe Marques Sigle beats out Brown to start the season again?
Morris has safeties who were ballhawks in Atlanta. Maybe, just maybe, we see the junior-year version of Tig from Penn State finally show up this year, when he was an interception machine. That’s putting more pressure on the defensive line to do the heavy lifting.
But we’re relying on hope when we say that. This group will be better if Tig plays like he did five years ago, or during the second half of his rookie season. Same with Malik: Play as you did as a rookie.
Verdict: Hope and projections are just that, hope and projections. We can’t, in good faith, say the safety room improved when there were no changes.
The 49ers elected to improve their defense by investing in the trenches. It’s been a successful model for this regime and the rest of the NFL. Now, they’ll need the backend to step up.
About the Author: Insidethe49
