Resilient, unwavering and relentless, the John Lynch/Kyle Shanahan leadership team has valiantly marched on through three years of personnel hits and misses to determinedly build the 49ers, using all the vast resources available to systematically bring in the best talent they can find and the best talent they can persuade to come to San Francisco.
Finally, as they enter the all-telling third year of their program — a season sure to enlighten whether or not they are in over their heads running an NFL team — San Francisco’s first-time general manager and first-time head coach agree they have stockpiled enough quality performers and strengthened the talent base enough to give the 49ers a legitimate chance to compete for a playoff berth during the 2019 season.
That has been the goal since the duo took control of the operation in 2017, and as their season of reckoning arrives, Lynch and Shanahan are comfortable letting all their work constructing the roster speak for itself.
“We believe we are there,” Shanahan said a few days before the start of the regular season. “I’m extremely happy with where we are right now. You’ll never be satisfied, you always want to keep getting better. But the main thing is you get better each year, and we’re in a situation right now that we haven’t been in before. We know we have a good chance to win.”
Just as importantly, Shanahan said, that’s a feeling that permeates the San Francisco roster thanks to the upgrades and reinforcements that have been added steadily to it since the Lynch/Shanahan team arrived.
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EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Set 49ers lineup still has several new starters
Calling all cornerbacks
Loss of Verrett exposes 49ers’ thin depth at CB
Always finding their way to run
49ers system accomplished at developing homegrown talent
ANOTHER COMEBACK?
Resilient veteran Verrett to miss rest of season
TOP 10 Rookie running backs
THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
Will Mostert run for 49ers again?
Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
