Offense 

Offensively this team isn’t that much different from last year. With that being the case this team offensively will be in the same position last year where they’re spending a lot of money on high end guys so they’ll be very reliant on health of said high end guys. Hopefully Brandon Aiyuk will get back to his old self and it seems like the recovery process is going smoothly so far. Trent Williams needs to get back on the field consistently but playing along the OL at 36 will be easier said than done. The same goes for Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, and of course Brock Purdy who has dealt with injuries. 

• The OL is thin and not particularly high end when it to the starters but Shanahan always does a great job of scheming up touches quickly to mitigate the lack of talent there so while I’m worried about the impact that will have down the stretch I don’t believe it will be as big of an issue as it looks to be on paper.
• The WR room is promising with young guys like Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing continuing to earn more snaps and get more comfortable in the offense and of course so long as they get their best WR in Brandon Aiyuk back on the field they’ll be fine. And despite losing Deebo Samuel keeping all three of Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, and George Kittle will give Purdy familiar options to look to in big situations.

Defense 

This DL across the board has become significantly better over this offseason. Adding guys like CJ West (Indiana) and Alfred Collins (Texas) into the interior of that line and then you add Mykel Williams (Georgia) off the edge opposite of Nick Bosa and all of the sudden the line is not only younger and more promising but I believe more impactful immediately than what they had last year. 

• Their play strength in the run game last year was one of their biggest issues  and those additions immediately transform this defense. Especially in early down situations which will in turn improve their effectiveness in getting pressure during passing downs due to teams being behind the sticks consistently.

The CB room is thin and as much as I love Deommodore Lenoir and what he brings to this room Renardo Green and Upton Stout (Western Kentucky) are both relatively unproven and it will certainly be a wait and see approach for what they’re capable out there in full starting roles. Not to mention if they were to suffer any injuries… I would like to at least see them add another veteran to the room that they can trust in a pinch.

• (Tre Tomlinson IR now as well)

The LB room losing Dre Greenlaw to Denver is obviously a hit from last year but with his injury history along with guys like Nick Martin (Oklahoma State) and Dee Winters being serviceable players I think they’ll be able to get away with them playing bigger roles. And it obviously helps having Fred Warner to help cover up any mistakes there as well. 

Overview 

• This roster is absolutely top heavy with some older players so they’ll have to count on guys not only not regressing/taking a step back with age but being on the field consistently and staying healthy over a long season of hard physical play. When this team is healthy and rolling they’re absolutely capable of taking this division over and possibly the conference but they’ll have to count on that injury luck being there. Shanahan will always keep them competitive so I don’t see a world where they drop too many games but this again is a very tough division and this team is thin on depth. It’ll be interesting to see where they end up because I could see them having  another 7-9 win season due to health and lack of depth but I could also see them in the conference championship with 11-13 wins if their best players are out there consistently.