With the NFL trade deadline looming last year, the 49ers pulled the trigger on a major trade to bring in accomplished veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, providing San Francisco with a final piece for its offensive puzzle in a move that transformed a rising, undefeated team from ascending playoff contender into Super Bowl favorite in the NFC.
Flash forward to the league’s trade deadline this year, when San Francisco traded away veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander, another key piece both on and off the field that joined the 49ers in 2019 and helped transform them into a championship operation, instantly becoming instrumental in their quick climb back to elite status.
What a difference a deadline makes.
And, as is often true in the NFL, what a difference in outlook and perspective that a year can make for virtually any team. Particularly a team such as the 49ers, a well-built outfit that appeared to have it all last season as a rising powerhouse stocked with talent and star performers that provided plenty of evidence it was built for the long haul.
Until maybe it wasn’t.
Nobody could have foreseen the practically apocalyptic surge of injuries that have swept over the San Francisco roster this season, a battlefield rout that has seen the 49ers have an astounding 23 players go on the injured reserve list through the middle of November and several other key starters and vital performers also miss one or more games — often more — with injuries.
This story is from the December 2020 edition of Niner Report.
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This story is from the December 2020 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.
