The San Francisco 49ers are the ultimate wait-and-see team in the NFL this season. We know what they are capable when firing on all cylinders. This is a team that can win upwards of 13 or 14 games during the regular season, en route to a Super Bowl appearance. Although they keep coming up short in the big game for Kyle Shanahan reasons, this is a team that knows how to win big come January.
That being said, we have also seen it unravel in San Francisco under their current regime before. This is a team that went from NFC Championship in 2023 to picking No. 11 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. While I like the upside of edge rusher Mykel Williams out of my alma mater of Georgia, one of my biggest concerns with the team is the overall health of the offense, including one Jauan Jennings.
The 49ers have not had Jennings available in their last three training camp practices, as he is still dealing with the same calf injury he suffered earlier in the offseason. While there is no need to rush him back from this kind of injury during the early part of training camp, who is Brock Purdy going to throw the ball to? Deebo Samuel is gone, while Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall as still banged up.
Purdy's mega deal does not kick in until next season, but this is a bad time to have a bad season.
Jauan Jennings injury may force John Lynch to make a trade this summer
If the 49ers are going to assert themselves in the ultra-competitive NFC West this year, I would venture to guess it will be with their defensive front-seven. The offensive line has seen better days. While Purdy has become a star in this league, as well as George Kittle being one of the best tight ends in the game, Trent Williams is no spring chicken up front. Christian McCaffrey missed time, too.
What I am getting at is this was a year where the 49ers receiving corps really needed to step up. Jennings has been able to carve out a nice NFL career out of Tennessee, but he also was not a first-round pick like Aiyuk and Pearsall were coming out. It just goes to show that general manager John Lynch continues to operate with no consequence in the draft, often flying by the seat of his pants.
I do think that if it becomes readily apparent that the 49ers need to add someone to their receiving corps last minute that Lynch will make that a reality because Shanahan says so. That being said, we will learn very quickly if Purdy will be the same player as he was under his pennies on the dollar rookie deal. He earned an extension, but now he must be able to cover up glaring deficiencies everywhere.
San Francisco has time to get its bearings right, but the division is going to be unforgiving this fall.