It’s not hard to paint an optimistic picture about the San Francisco 49ers’ 2024 season.
They enter the year with the best roster in football. They’ll be almost fully intact by Week 1, and they return most of the group that won the No. 1 seed in the NFC en route to a Super Bowl trip last season. If things go according to plan, this is the year San Francisco ends its 30-year Super Bowl drought and become only the fourth team ever to lose a Super Bowl, then win it the following year. They’d join the 1971 Dallas Cowboys, 1972 Miami Dolphins and 2018 New England Patriots to do so.
So, what does the most optimistic view look like?
Quarterback Brock Purdy will be entering his second full year as a starter. He’s also coming off a full offseason where he didn’t have to rehab his surgically-repaired throwing elbow. Considering he finished fourth in MVP voting last season, the arrow is pointing up for the signal caller in 2024.
If Purdy is better, the 49ers offense is going to reach an unstoppable level. San Francisco already boasts playmakers like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey. Sprinkling in a quarterback who makes more individually great plays outside the context of his playmakers would make head coach Kyle Shanahan’s group a juggernaut.
A better version of the 49ers’ offense would allow the team’s defense to take a step backward and still stay in Super Bowl contention. Alas, we’re in the most optimistic world here and San Francisco once again boasts the NFL’s top defense.
Defensive end depth is a concern, to be sure, but Nick Bosa would be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and Javon Hargrave would bounce back with a Pro Bowl campaign. Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos would also provide enough rotational depth on the edges to make the 49ers’ pass rush a force like the one we saw in 2019.
This year is different though because their secondary is also loaded. Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir are both Pro Bowl candidates at cornerback, as are safeties Ji’Ayir Brown and Talanoa Hufanga. That group churns out a ton of takeaways in this universe where it all goes right.
While the 49ers may miss Dre Greenlaw alongside Fred Warner, De’Vondre Campbell looks more like his 2021 self and when Greenlaw does return he works in as the Sam LB who only plays a handful of snaps each game. Campbell is more susceptible in coverage than Greenlaw, but he’s overall a fine replacement and the 49ers don’t lose much in the linebacking corps.
All of those pieces falling into place give the 49ers a No. 1 offense and a No. 1 defense going into the playoffs. Once they’re there, their experience takes over and they steamroll their way to a Super Bowl where they finally knock off Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to earn their sixth Lombardi Trophy.
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