Revisiting 49ers’ 2016 personnel decisions
How did the 49ers end up like this?
That’s a question that’s sure to circle through the minds of the team and its fans on almost a daily basis as the Niners play to the finish of this tortured season that’s destined to go down in team annals as one of the worst in franchise history.
It’s also a question that figures to linger on into the 2017 offseason as the 49ers look to regroup and rebuild again — and wonder how it all went wrong during the regrouping and rebuilding of the 2016 offseason.
If the 49ers thought they had a bad offseason in 2015 — considered one of the worst in the team’s contemporary history — then 2016 has to also be considered as a contender for the top after the way San Francisco performed this year on the way to finishing with one of the franchise’s worst records.
San Francisco’s slide from a team that was bad last season to a group that was even worse this season leads to some serious examination of what the team did this year to strengthen itself during the rosterforming months of late-winter and spring — and in this case, all the way up to the middle of summer training camp, too.
Here, The Niner Report revisits the significant moves of San Francisco’s offseason and examines how they’ve panned out for the 49ers as the team completes the final stage of its season.
CHIP-PING AWAY IN A NEW COACHING DIRECTION
After last year’s 5-11 debacle — when the 49ers weren’t even as good as that lousy final record might suggest while finishing the season ranked last in the NFL in scoring, next-to-last in total offense and 29th in total defense — the team was quick to oust the captain of that sinking ship, Tim Tomsula.
This story is from the January 2017 edition of Niner Report.
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This story is from the January 2017 edition of Niner Report.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Set 49ers lineup still has several new starters
Calling all cornerbacks
Loss of Verrett exposes 49ers’ thin depth at CB
Always finding their way to run
49ers system accomplished at developing homegrown talent
ANOTHER COMEBACK?
Resilient veteran Verrett to miss rest of season
TOP 10 Rookie running backs
THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
Will Mostert run for 49ers again?
Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
