The San Francisco 49ers are expected to be one of the NFL’s top competitors once again in 2026 after an impressive 13-win season in 2025, despite dealing with a variety of major injuries.
The 49ers saw Fred Warner, George Kittle, Brock Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall, and Mykel Williams all miss substantial time with injuries last year, but still managed to come out with 13 wins and narrowly miss out on the division title.
They ended up winning a playoff game, beating the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the wildcard series before bowing out to the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Now, after an offseason where they didn’t lose many major contributors while adding pieces like Mike Evans and Osa Odighizuwa, the 49ers are looking to return to Super Bowl contention once again while their current window still lasts.
Injuries have always been the story of the game for the 49ers, and they’ll hope to get full recoveries from Warner, Kittle, and Williams ahead of the season. But, with how last year went down and given the amount of star talent on the team, who is San Francisco’s best player ahead of the 2026 season?
CBS Sports’s Pete Prisco revealed his Top 100 players list for the upcoming year, and the 49ers saw seven players crack the rankings. Leading the way was Warner, who came in at No. 16, despite his season-ending injury. Warner jumped up three spots from his 2025 preseason ranking.
“He’s among the many 49ers coming off major injuries,” Prisco wrote. “But when he’s on the field, there is no better off-ball linebacker in the league. He can do it all.”
Right below him was Christian McCaffrey, who came in at No. 19 after a season where he played in all 17 games. McCaffrey saw a substantial leap after being ranked at No. 41 ahead of the 2025 season.
“Coming off an injury-shortened 2024 season, he responded by rushing for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns while catching 102 passes with seven touchdown receptions,” Prisco wrote of McCaffrey. “At times, he was basically the entire 49ers offense because of injuries to other players.”
Trent Williams came in at No. 25, moving up nine spots from No. 34 a season ago.
“He isn’t the same player he was earlier in his career, but he’s still damn good at 37,” Prisco said about the left tackle. “The 49ers are a different offense when he isn’t on the field. He’s on his way to Canton.”
One 49er did see a significant slide after his major injury, as George Kittle fell from No. 25 to No. 49 on this year’s list. Playing in only 11 games this year due to a hamstring injury, Kittle had 57 catches for 628 yards and seven touchdowns before his Achilles tear in the playoffs.
“He was slowed by injuries last year and is coming off a major one in a torn Achilles,” Prisco said of Kittle. “But when he’s on the field, he’s as complete a tight end as there is in the game.”
Brock Purdy debuted on the list, despite playing in only nine games last year, as he made his way to the No. 75 spot.
“Injuries limited him to nine games last season,” Prisco said of Purdy. “But in those nine games, he threw 20 touchdown passes, the same number he threw in 15 games in 2024.”
And finally, Nick Bosa still cracked the Top 100 after his ACL tear, falling all the way from No. 35 to No. 94 in the rankings. Bosa had started off the 2025 season very strongly, but his season was quickly cut short after an injury in Week 3.
“He is coming off a torn ACL suffered in Week 3 last season,” Prisco wrote. “But the team expects him back close to 100% for the start of camp. He hasn’t had double-digit sacks since 2023 because he has missed so much time.”
Are the rankings correct? Is Warner still the 49ers best player? And should any players be higher or lower on the list?
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