Injuries devastated and ruined the San Francisco 49ers’ plans to defend the 2020 NFC championship crown in 2021. Injuries started early and continued throughout the year. And although injuries affect a team anyway, when they are their best players getting hurt, it makes it all the more difficult. Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, George Kittle, Jimmy Garoppolo, the list goes on and on. It was a difficult year for the 49ers, who will now try to fight in 2021 in a brutally difficult western division of the NFC. After the first flurry of free NFL agencies, there is still a lot of work to be done with this list of 49ers.
San Francisco was aggressive in solidifying its offensive line of free agency. The 49ers brought Trent Williams back in big business and added the All-Pro pivot three times, Alex Mack. This, in addition to a group that was already very good to start, will leave the comfortable life in the pocket for those who are under the center of San Francisco in 2021.
The 49ers made other plays that lack the enthusiasm or brilliance of other teams that are bringing big receivers or backing up a Brinks truck to a quarterback like Dallas did to Dak Prescott. But there are moves that are essential for San Francisco operations to find success once again. Transactions like waiving the fullback Kyle Juszczyk and bringing back Jason Verrett and Emmanuel Moseley to ensure that the secondary does not fall apart. These are silent actions that will keep San Francisco’s solid foundation.
However, a great need and a big question remain: quarterback. What is the plan?
Although they obviously won’t admit it, it is becoming increasingly evident that the 49ers’ future plans as a quarterback do not revolve around Jimmy Garoppolo. There are rumors that they kicked the defenders’ tires across the map, including Deshaun Watson, Matthew Stafford (before the switch), Kirk Cousins, Gardner Minshew, and many even mention the possibility of them choosing a defender in early 2021.
For what is widely considered to be the most important position in the NFL, perhaps in all sports, 49ers need to find out what they are going to do. Chances are that they will probably roll with Garoppolo next season, but after that, it gets more blurry. And things can change quickly. When it is rumored that you have discussed a multitude of different defender options internally, it is hard to imagine that everything is being invented out of thin air.
San Francisco has the talent, the scheme and the training to succeed, regardless of who will be the center of the team. Kyle Shanahan is an offensive guru and his scheme is working in the Bay Area. The 49ers have one of, if not the best, tight end in the entire league in George Kittle. They worked with a lot of different running backs going through a rotation for a few years that showed flashes of sparkle. The 49ers have everything a quarterback could want. They just need to answer the quarterback’s own question.
What started out as a question for the 49ers has turned into doubts about Garoppolo and has now become an absolute necessity for San Francisco. What they do as a defender in 2021 is likely to have an impact on how dominoes will fall for the franchise in the coming years.
