49ers have the talent to make noise this year, but only if the players can get on the field and stay there.
The San Francisco 49ers are loaded to “start” the 2026 NFL season. They have an elite play caller, a franchise quarterback, a No. 1-ranked left tackle and tight end, and an all-star defensive cast led by Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.
So, should Roger Goodell override Stan Kroenke and paint SoFi’s end zones red and gold? They do call it Levi’s South, and the Niners will be playing there in February anyway, right? Probably not because the operative word is to start the 2026 NFL Season.
Seahawks over 49ers in 2026 playoffs (photo courtesy FOX News)
The 49ers finished last year pulling into Seattle in their handicapped bus filled with a cast of backups and new additions like Linebacker Eric Kendricks – who was literally pulled off his couch to play. Seattle dominated the Walking Wounded in the semifinal playoff game, and the paddling wasn’t over until the Seahawks hoisted the Lombardi at Levi’s Stadium.
As Seattle trashed the 9ers’ locker room and stained the walls with cigar smoke, legend has it they left a Super Bowl ring for Coach Shanahan to admire. The note attached to it read, “We had one left over and wanted to thank you for giving us our second bye week. And the stadium.” XOXO.
The good news is they have a plan in place, so this year’s season doesn’t get derailed by injuries. Hire more trainers, monitor rest, evaluate the electrical substation, and come to camp in shape.
Sounds like a surefire plan until your head coach starts the season in concussion protocol. Then your previous first-round draft pick re-injures his knee before the pads even come on. Now this year’s first-round pick is on the injury list. Now newly added Mike Evans is out with a hamstring. This sounds more like a midseason injury update than a first-week training camp report.
Ricky Pearsall (photo courtesy San Francisco Standard)
Analysts have to ask, “How is Ricky Pearsall out for the season after two no-padded practices when he had nine months to rehab the same injury he had last year?” We’ll know the answer to that when Kyle gets out of his concussion protocol, but I’m guessing Pearsall and the team mismanaged his injury – along with a laundry list of injury-prone draft picks.
The draft can be a separate article on its own, but they need to put this injury problem front and center before they fall back into bad habits.
John Lynch hired a third party to evaluate the electrical substation, and he concluded it was a big “Nothing Burger.” Everyone with an IQ North of 70 with a measles vaccination knew that was not the problem, but I give Lynch credit for appeasing the mouth breathers.
However, in a world with short attention spans and Aaron Rodgers’ medical degrees, maybe heighten the wall so we don’t have to look at that eyesore substation every time they practice. The placebo effect is real, and I’m guessing it’s in the back of some players’ minds.
Shanahan and Lynch have built a good program, but they’ll never win a championship with their backups. Monitoring their player’s vitals with wristbands like Chip Kelly does, changing the way they train in the offseason, or altering the way they practice needs to be addressed yesterday.
Furthermore, John Lynch may need to take the wheel and overhaul the 49ers’ Health and Performance staff to save Kyle from oncoming traffic.
