San Francisco 49ers face uphill battle this offseason

By Dan Salem | Feb 11, 2015

The San Francisco 49ers face an uphill battle this offseason. With a possible 16 unrestricted free agents and a new head coach, can the 49ers rebound in time for 2015? Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.

TODD:

It is going to be a very rocky offseason for the San Francisco 49ers. It could be a long recovery to get back to its years of appearing in NFC championship games. Forget head coach for a second. The 49ers have a lot going on with their actual football players!

According to Spotrac.com, San Francisco has 16 pending unrestricted free agents. There is also the possibility of a few other departing players and some of them are rather prominent names.

Starting running back Frank Gore and starting wide receiver Michael Crabtree will both be unrestricted free agents and both are likely gone. The offense needs a revamp of its skill positions anyways.

More pressing is the free agency of Pro Bowl guard Mike Iupati. San Fran has relied heavily on its offensive line in its run-heavy scheme. Iupati was one of the lynch pins.

On defense, the situation is even more dire.

All of the following may be gone from San Francisco:
– Part-time starting linebacker Dan Skuta
– Starting corner Chris Culliver
– Starting corner Perrish Cox
– Starting defensive end Justin Smith (reportedly may retire)
– Starting end Ray McDonald (released during the season)

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

With stalwart linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman returning from injury to boot, where is this team headed? It’s hard enough having a brand new head coach. What happens if half the starting lineup is brand new as well?

I think 2014 may have just been a glimpse of the pending slide of the 49ers. I like Carlos Hyde‘s potential as an every-down back, but he only carried the ball 83 times last season.

The receiving corps need a huge upgrade even if Crabtree returns, and this is especially true with Colin Kaepernick declining this past season.

For a team that has been built on its offensive line and its defense, San Fran may need to branch out to find wins in 2015.

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DAN:

A football team starts twenty two players on offense and defense. The 49ers have 16 potential unrestricted free agents. No wonder Jim Harbaugh railroaded his relationship with San Francisco ownership. No wonder he created a situation that required his exit from the team. The writing was on the wall and he wanted out before his stellar coaching resume got tarnished by one offseason crap show.

I predicted last spring that San Francisco would fall down in 2014, which they did. I felt as though they’d played a bit over their heads, and since at least one team takes a dive in the win column every season, the 49ers fit the mold for such a fall. Yet I never imagined it to be prolonged. I now believe Jim Harbaugh saw his Bay Area future and it included being fired after a four- or five-win debacle of a season. Instead he left more or less unscathed.

Now back to the 49ers and their lack of a team. I think its time to hit the panic button in Northern California. The 2014 season ended with San Fran ranked fourth in rushing offense, seventh in rushing defense and fifth in passing defense in the league. All of that equaled eight wins and eight losses. Panic.

Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive line coach Jim Tomsula before the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks are not getting significantly worse. The Arizona Cardinals will be an 8-8 team at worst. Same goes for the St. Louis Rams, who looked much better than their record last season. What does all of this mean for the 49ers? It means scratching out a winning record – with a new coach and the same team from last season – would have been extremely difficult. But add the roster shuffle (read complete overhaul by default) and 2015 will be a struggle.

First the good news; San Francisco will be entering the 2015 season as underdogs. No one will expect them to win their division, let alone make the playoffs. I doubt many pundits pick them for double-digit wins and even fewer will see any kind of resurgence. All of this adds up to the “Nobody believes in us” factor which is huge in professional sports. It makes a surprise San Fran playoff run more likely.

Now for the bad news you eluded to. The 49ers can’t re-sign all of their free agents. Do they keep their current backup quarterbacks, or find someone new? That position is even more important, with a running quarterback like Colin Kaepernick leading your team.

How does one decide between re-signing running backs and wide receivers or cornerbacks? We all witnessed last year how a lack of cornerback depth crushed the New York Jets’ defense. But the Jets also proved you can’t consistently win without one star threat at wide receiver. The Jets finished 8-8 the season before tanking to four wins. Just saying.

Next: 49ers grab a receiver in latest NFL Mock Draft

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