San Francisco 49ers 2019 Season Preview
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 7/1/2019.
San Francisco 49ers Free Agency Recap
The 49ers got running back Tevin Coleman to be the new starting running back. They also signed wide receiver Jordan Matthews to replace Pierre Garcon. San Francisco also got 4-3 right end Dee Ford in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.
San Francisco 49ers Draft Recap
The 49ers got a new starting left end in Nick Bosa with the second overall pick. Joey Bosa's little brother also went to Ohio State with both Bosa brothers being on the West Coast. The also drafted Deebo Samuel who currently projects as a slot receiver in the second round out of South Carolina. Jalen Hurd, their third round pick is playing well enough to be a backup to Jordan Matthews. Mitch Wishnowsky a fourth round pick is the starting punter.
San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Summary: The 49ers have Jimmy Garoppolo as their starting quarterback. Nick Mullens was a guy who had more upside then C.J. Beathard. The undrafted quarterback out of Southern Mississippi lived up to his ceiling and took the backup job from San Francisco's third round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan specializes in developing quarterbacks. The thing is Shanahan already is abusing his power being the head coach/offensive coordinator. Last year Shanahan was an advisor to John Lynch during the draft, but this time Shanahan let Lynch handle all the drafting decisions. Shanahan is still going to be the head coach/offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers.
Shane Day is the new quarterbacks coach. He was the tight ends coach with the Miami Dolphins the past three seasons.
San Francisco 49ers Running Back Summary: Tevin Coleman was always second to Devonta Freeman in Atlanta. Coleman took over for an injured Freeman and dominated. His familiarity with Kyle Shannahan since Coleman was on Atlanta was Shanahan was the offensive coordinator is why I think Tevin Coleman will work in Atlanta. Robert Turner Jr. will be the running backs coach for the second season after previously being the running backs coach in Atlanta where he worked with Shanahan.
San Francisco 49ers Wide Receiver Summary: San Francisco has Jordan Matthews as their number one receiver with Dante Pettis as the number two receiver pushing Matthews for that number one spot. The 49ers also have Deebo Samuel as their new slot receiver. Wes Welker will finally be a wide receivers coach after being a special teams assistant with the Houston Texans. Welker coaching these receivers gives me even more confidence in the 49ers offense.
Mike Lafleur was a wide receivers coach with the Atlanta Falcons when they went to Super Bowl 51 with Kyle Shanahan. He's still the passing game coordinator, but Wes Welker is now the wide receivers coach working with Lafleur.
San Francisco 49ers Tight End Summary: George Kittle is the starting tight end now. As long as Garoppolo stays healthy expect Kittle to be a top 5 tight end in Fantasy Football. Kittle helped me out even without Garoppolo last year.
San Francisco's tight end coach Jon Embree is the assistant head coach and would take over as interim head coach if something happened to Kyle Shanahan so that's promising. Embree did a good job with George Kittle the last two seasons and with the 49ers new quarterback coach being a former tight ends coach I expect another huge season from Kittle.
San Francisco 49ers Offensive Line Summary: Right now the 49ers starting offensive line features Joe Staley at left tackle, Laken Tomlinson at left guard, Weston Richburg at center, Mike Person at right guard, and Mike McGlinchey at right tackle. San Francisco has Joshua Garnett as the backup right guard. If something happens to Staley, I'd imagine McGlinchey moves to left tackle with swing tackle Shon Coleman taking over at right tackle. Coleman is listed as the backup left tackle and the backup right tackle making him a solid insurance plan for San Francisco. Weston Richburg has Erik Magnuson returning as the backup center.
John Benton returns as the offensive line coach. Benton had a good group to work with last season. This group is healthy and even stronger now.
The 49ers have the talent to be one of the best teams in thee NFL on offense. It comes down to Jimmy Garoppolo staying healthy. If he gets injured like he did last year then San Francisco will begin to wonder how durable Garoppolo really is. The 49ers have the chance to be a top 15 team in points scored, passing yards, rushing yards, and total yards with their additions. If the 49ers struggle offensively, it will be due to Jordan Matthews sucking and nothing else.
San Francisco 49ers Defensive Line Summary: San Francisco has Dee Ford at 4-3 right end and Nick Bosa at 4-3 left end. Solomon Thomas is the situational defenisve end giving San Francisco a lethal pass rush. You also have Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner at 4-3 defensive tackle. Kris Kocurek is the new defensive line coach with the San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco 49ers Linebacker Summary: Malcolm Smith is the 49ers right outside linebacker. Kwon Alexander is the starting 4-3 middle linebacker. Fred Warner is now the starting 4-3 left outside linebacker.
The 49ers went from having two awful linebacker coaches to having three remarkable ones. Robert Saleh did a horrible job calling plays as I expected him to. Salah will get fired if he does not improve in this area with all the talent the 49ers have added on the front 7. Johnny Holland enters his third season as the outside linebackers coach. To top that off, you got former Texans middle linebacker Demeco Ryans as a defensive quality control assistant. Ryans got promoted to middle linebackers coach in 2018.
San Francisco 49ers Defensive Backs Summary: San Francisco finally fixed their cornerback problem. They lured Richard Sherman is the field cornerback and enters his second season with the 49ers. Ahkello Witherspoon is now the boundary cornerback complimenting Sherman. Jaquiski Tartt is the strong safety with Jimmie Ward at free safety. K'Wuan Williams is a nice nickel cornerback too. Joe Woods was the defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos the last two years, but he won Super Bowl 50 as a defensive backs coach and will reprise that role in San Francisco.
The 49ers defense should be a top 12 team in terms of sacks. I think the run defense and pass defense have enough talent to be a top 10 unit as long as everyone is healthy. The run defense will be as good as Kwon Alexander, but the talent for this core to be good is there. San Francisco looks like a top 15 team in total yards allowed. San Francisco had Malcolm Smith hit injured reserve and Reuben Foster could not stay out of trouble which was the biggest reason the run defense was a disappointment.
San Francisco 49ers Special Teams Summary: Robbie Gould has big shoes to fill as Phil Dawson's replacement at kicker. Mitch Wishnowsky appears to be an upgrade over the 49ers previous punter despite the fact that I did not have a draft grade on him. Ritchie James is becoming one of the better return specialists in the league as Ritchie James returns both kickoffs and punts for the 49ers.
Richard Hightower was an assistant special teams coordinator with the 49ers in 2015 when the team had Phil Dawson. Richard Hightower showed he could be a great special teams coordinator last year. Everyone on the 49ers coaching staff is returning and this is the first team I've previewed with all of their coaches back.
San Francisco 49ers Worst Case Scenario: San Francisco goes 8-8 and misses the playoffs. The 49ers have the coaching, quarterback, offensive line, and defense. At the same time you wish there were better weapons for the team to place around Jimmy Garoppolo.
San Francisco 49ers Best Case Scenario: San Francisco makes a huge leap. The 49ers do well enough to be a dark horse team that actually makes it to Super Bowl 54. The 49ers take that next step and finally supplant the Los Angeles Rams as the team to beat in the NFC West Divsion.
San Francisco 49ers 2019 NFL Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
Cable Network |
Result |
Week 1 |
September 8 |
AT  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 2 |
September 15 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 3 |
September 22 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 4 |
|
Bye Week |
|
|
|
Week 5 |
October 7 |
VS  |
8:15 PM EST |
ESPN |
W |
Week 6 |
October 13 |
AT  |
4:05 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 7 |
October 20 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 8 |
October 27 |
VS  |
4:05 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 9 |
October 31 |
AT  |
8:20 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 10 |
November 11 |
VS  |
8:15 PM EST |
ESPN |
W |
Week 11 |
November 17 |
VS |
4:05 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 12 |
November 24 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 13 |
December 1 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 14 |
December 8 |
AT  |
4:05 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 15 |
December 15 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 16 |
December 22 |
VS |
4:05 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 17 |
December 29 |
AT |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
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