Can Jimmy G, wideouts do more?
Niners Wire
Has Jimmy Garoppolo reached his ceiling?
The end of Super Bowl LIV left a less-than-stellar impression of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo even if his numbers were strong for the better part of last season. Garoppolo didn’t have a heavy workload for most of the year, and his team-friendly contract would’ve made it easy financially to move on from the 28-year-old.
But the 49ers wound up unequivocally backing their quarterback by not pursuing Tom Brady and not making any moves to add a signal caller in the draft.
Garoppolo is going into the 2020 campaign fully healthy after his first full season as an NFL starter. Quarterbacks tend to make strides in Kyle Shanahan’s offense during their second full seasons, so there’s some optimism that Garoppolo will follow the trends set by Matt Schaub and Matt Ryan.
His added confidence in his surgically repaired ACL and the addition of Brandon Aiyuk in the first round of the draft are more signs that point toward Garoppolo building on an overall strong 2019 campaign.
Will the 49ers’ defense repeat its 2019 success?
The biggest change on the 49ers’ roster in the offseason came when they traded Pro Bowl defensive lineman DeForest Buckner to the Colts, opening a sizable vacancy in the dominant defensive line that spearheaded San Francisco’s Super Bowl run.
The team addressed that hole with the No. 14 overall pick by selecting South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw. That’ll be the only change to the 49ers’ defense though.
Year-to-year it’s difficult to put together the kind of defensive production they had in 2019. They forced 27 turnovers, racked up 48 sacks and overcame injuries to strong safety Jaquiski Tartt, defensive end Dee Ford and linebacker Kwon Alexander.
They will be strong again behind defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, who should be Pro Bowlers in 2020, but allowing five net yards per pass attempt and fewer than 3,000 total passing yards may not be doable again.
Can the wideouts overcome big question marks?
The 49ers have invested a lot in their receiving corps since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch arrived in 2017. Between Trent Taylor, Dante Pettis,
Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd, Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings, they’ve used six picks on receivers in the last four drafts.
But Samuel appears to be the only sure thing in the group. Their second-most reliable receiver is former undrafted free agent Kendrick Bourne.
This is a receiving corps that on paper is talent rich. Health and consistency have plagued the group though. Samuel and Bourne should be go-to targets early, but they can’t do it alone. Aiyuk is the first receiver taken by the 49ers in the first round since Michael Crabtree in 2009. Plenty of the onus will be on him to produce early, but that’s a tall ask for a rookie.
Taylor has battled injuries the last two years. Pettis fell off the map last season and was inactive for the Super Bowl after a strong 2018. Hurd missed his rookie season with a back injury. It’s going to be up to Pettis, Hurd or Taylor to bounce back, or Jennings and free agent signee Travis Benjamin to force their way into a role to give Garoppolo a more consistent passcatching threat on the perimeter.