But the goal remains the same as it did a year ago at this time — to get back to the NFL’s championship game, and this time win it.
The 49ers and many other observers surrounding the team feel San Francisco is much closer to that target than the team’s 6-10 finish last season might suggest. That seven-game regression in the victory column from the team’s memorable 2019 season can at least partially be attributed to an unusual set of circumstances during a 2020 season marred by the novel coronavirus pandemic and a record number of injuries that thwarted San Francisco’s progress and development.
Now it’s time to move on and get back to business. When players report to team headquarters in preparation to begin summer practice July 31, the 49ers will have plenty of work in front of them as they regroup from last year’s disaster and attempt to regain their recent status as an NFL frontrunner and championship contender.
Here, The Niner Report compiles a list and provides a breakdown and projections of the key focal points of training camp, hoping to guide you through several of the important and consequential issues surrounding the team as the 49ers aim for the playoffs again and attempt to bounce back from one of the weirdest and most disappointing seasons in franchise history.
8 TOP STORY LINES
GETTING LANCED: One of the most closely watched and openly discussed topics regarding the 2021 49ers is sure to be the progress and development of quarterback Trey Lance, already anointed as the team’s heir apparent at the position after the investment San Francisco put into bringing the rookie to town and the risk the 49ers take in mortgaging their future on a young and unproven product brimming with all-world potential.
This story is from the August 2021 edition of Niner Report.
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This story is from the August 2021 edition of Niner Report.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.
