San Francisco 49ers Team Preview 25-26

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  • Last Updated on June 17, 2025 1:20 pm by André Lemos | Published: June 17, 2025

     

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    When we talk about season’s from hell, the Niners might take the cake.  They lost fantasy superstar and the reigning best player in fantasy before the season started and CMC went from scoring 21 TDs two seasons ago, to zero this past campaign.  Anyone who drafted CMC felt the sting all season and it has left a scar that will never truly heal.  I will dive into that more, but it wasn’t just CMC who had a lost season.  Brandon Aiyuk was the WR14 two seasons ago, held out during the summer, never got on track and scored guess how many TDs? Yep, zero.  That’s 28 TDs missing from an offense that is great at taking punches and still firing, but it kept going.  Deebo Samuel scored 12 TDs in that 2023 blowup season and he managed only four last season.  That’s a 40-4 swing and I don’t care how great an offensive mind Kyle Shanahan is, at some point the numbers become insurmountable.  The good news is that we can bury that season and never talk about it again.

    While we’re talking about how great Kyle Shanahan is, the team has gone over a retrofit on the fly and might just be better than ever.  Out is Samuel and while Ayiuk rehabs a torn ACL, Jauan Jennings (WR25) and Ricky Pearsall (WR81) are going to pick up the slack.  Jennings is nothing but upside as he had a delayed breakout in his 5th year to the tune of 77 catches, 975 yards, and 6 TDs.  Jennings isn’t just a huge target, he’s earned the trust of Brock Purdy and once Aiyuk went down in Week 7, Jennings slid into the WR1 role without missing a beat.  He boasted a 25% target share, but more impressively a 33% first-read target rate which means Purdy looks to him not just first, but also often.  With George Kittle reigning as the TE1 in FPPG (13.2), there are plenty of option in the 49ers offense, but Jennings should continue to see his role increase as this offense looks poised to not just bounce-back, but explode.  It’s not like it was a wasteland last season, they still finished 4th in yards and passing yards, while also finishing 7th in rushing YPR (4.7), but they were very mistake prone and inefficient, ranking 27th in TOs (27).

    The biggest question mark that looms over the entire franchise is CMC’s health and once bitten, twice scarred.  I can’t draft him again and entering his age 29 season, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical, but with an ADP of RB10, there is certainly upside.  There are few non-skill position players as important to their team as Trent Williams and him missing seven games last season was devastating to the Niners ability to keep the pocket clean.  Unlike most high-powered offenses built around getting the ball out quick and breaking a defense with death by a thousand cuts, the Niners like to attack downfield and Brock Purdy was third in yards-per-attempts (8.5).  That means he needs more time in the pocket to let plays develop and thus holding the ball for over three seconds on average, ranking as the league’s sixth-highest rate.  While there is no cure-all if this, then that, but having Williams and CMC healthy will do wonders for both the rushing and passing game.


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    June 17, 2025, 11:08 am