Three key areas that could define the 49ers’ success (or failure) in 2020
Last spring it would have been fair to make proclamations about the 4-12 San Francisco 49ers heading into the 2019 season.
Proclamations like: Jimmy Garoppolo has to play 16 games for the team to be in the playoff hunt. Nick Bosa’s health, after playing just three games during his final college season, needs to be good enough he can stay in the lineup. It’s imperative second-round pick Deebo Samuel makes a meaningful imprint on the offense. Et cetera.
Those three things happened during the 49ers’ dream-like regular season that included a slew of high-profile wins, earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC and blowing out the Vikings and Packers to reach the Super Bowl.
Getting back to that stage and winning a sixth Lombardi Trophy has higher levels of difficulty in 2020. San Francisco won’t have trusty veterans Emmanuel Sanders or DeForest Buckner. The 49ers have a first-place schedule this year, which includes long road trips to New York (twice) and New England.
And they won’t be taking anyone by surprise like they might have during the first half of last season. They’re entering the year as a heavyweight contender, not a team that previously earned the No. 2 pick in the draft while losing 12 games.
That said, maybe it’s time to make some declarative statements about the 49ers in 2020. Only we’ll look at the less obvious elements of the discussion outside of the starting quarterback and star pass rusher.
Dee Ford needs to channel 2018
The 49ers still had the NFL’s best defensive front with Ford missing five games and playing well less than 100 percent because of knee tendinitis that hampered him during training camp. He also had a hamstring injury that cost him most of December.
Ford was on the field for just 22 percent of the defensive snaps for the season and still managed 6.5 sacks. The team didn’t have anyone else to replicate his speed off the edge and it proved to be a strong complement to Buckner and Arik Armstead on the inside.
“It gives (blockers) a little bit more sense of urgency to get back in their protection,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said in January. “When that happens, it opens up that B-gap, so when there’s space created for that offensive line, now you’re getting those guys on islands, and it just creates a lot of one-on-ones for those (interior) guys.”
San Francisco needs more from Ford in 2020 in the absence of Buckner. Getting back to 2018-level production would certainly help negate the Buckner drop off.
Remember, Ford had 13 sacks and led the NFL with 10 turnovers forced by pressure in 2018. It came in a contract year before the 49ers gave him a five-year, $85 million contract after being acquired in a trade for a second-round pick that conveys later this month.
The 49ers set up Ford’s contract to give themselves an easy out after the coming season. He could be released and create $16 million in cap space with a palatable $1.6 million hit in dead money. So his 2020 campaign is big both for the 49ers and Ford’s career trajectory.
Dante Pettis has to rebound
The 49ers could end up with a star receiver with the No. 13 pick in the upcoming draft. But the odds are stacked against that player being the No. 1-type option right out the box.
Only seven rookie receivers have logged 1,000 yards this decade. Kyle Shanahan’s complex offense might make that kind of production even more unlikely.
Getting Samuel to develop into a true No. 1 option, alongside star tight end George Kittle, could soothe the absence of Sanders as a top target last season. It’s going to take a village to elevate Garoppolo and the passing game if the defense is going to take a predictable step back next season.
Which points to Pettis possibly being an integral player in 2020. He played himself out of the rotation last season, perhaps with the final straw being his short-arm effort in overtime against the Seahawks in the first defeat of the year. Pettis was inactive in the Super Bowl with Shanahan opting for a fourth running back instead.
Shanahan hand-picked Pettis — and even traded up for him in Round 2 — during the 2018 draft for his route running and ability to beat press coverage. But Pettis has largely been ineffective, save for a four-game stretch during his rookie season with Nick Mullens at quarterback. Pettis in two years has 38 catches, 576 and seven touchdowns. He had just 11 grabs for 109 yards in 2019.
The 49ers haven’t given up on Pettis, yet. He may never live up to Shanahan’s expectations, but getting a bounce-back season could do wonders for an offense that needs at least one more play maker to emerge.
The second cornerback spot must solidify
San Francisco had the NFL’s best pass defense despite having instability at the cornerback spot opposite Richard Sherman. Emmanuel Moseley started nine games while Ahkello Witherspoon started eight (Sherman missed the December contest against the Falcons).
The spotlight will be on that group this year for multiple reasons. First, coverage will be more important if the pass rush feels the loss of Buckner as we all expect. Second, Witherspoon, Moseley and slot corner K’Waun Williams are all unsigned beyond 2020.
“If you have two, you don’t have any” is a cliche that could apply here. It would be difficult to sustain success with a rotation at cornerback given the heightened stakes for each because of their contract situations.
Witherspoon has more physical talent and upside as he was a third-round draft pick in 2017. Moseley joined the club a year later as an undrafted free agent who spent most of his first season on the practice squad. Neither has proven they could be counted on as a long-term answer, which could lead to adding a cornerback in the draft.
