San Francisco 49ers 2026 NFL Season Preview

Offense

The 49ers are returning nine starters from a unit that ranked among the NFL’s top 10 in both yards and points. And they’ve upgraded at one of their empty spots by replacing Jauan Jennings with Evans, a six-time Pro Bowl pick and 1,000-yard machine who signed a team-friendly deal in March.

Evans took less money to join a title contender. And the 49ers’ QB situation was part of his calculation. Purdy ranks second in the NFL in passer rating (104.0) among QBs with a minimum of 1,000 attempts since 2022, and the 49ers might possess the NFL’s best backup in Mac Jones, who went 5-3 last year in his starts and ranked second in the league in completion percentage (69.6).

The QBs are surrounded by a plethora of stars who are going toe-to-toe with Father Time. McCaffrey, entering his age-30 season, was fourth in MVP voting after finishing 76 receiving yards shy of becoming the first player in history to have two seasons with 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving. Kittle, entering his 10th season, earned his seventh Pro Bowl berth despite missing six games. Left tackle Trent Williams, in season No. 16, signed a restructured two-year, $50 million contract in April after he was a second-team All-Pro in 2025.

The grizzled vets could use some assistance from recent draft picks. Evans will lead a wide receiver corps that needs big contributions from Ricky Pearsall (a 2024 first-rounder) and rookie De’Zhaun Stribling, their first pick in April’s draft. The 49ers took Stribling with the first pick of the second round after questions about Pearsall’s durability intensified following a 36-catch season in which he missed eight games with a knee injury.

The 49ers are hoping to reduce McCaffrey’s workload after he had an NFL-high 413 touches. They invested a third-round pick on Indiana’s Kaelon Black in hopes that he can serve as a capable caddy, although Black’s pass-catching skills are suspect — he had only eight catches across his final two college seasons.

The offensive line will return four starters, and a rookie, fourth-round pick Carver Willis, will have a chance to compete for the up-for-grabs spot at left guard. Willis’ competition includes Robert Jones, who signed in March after sitting out last year with a broken bone in his neck. Connor Colby, a 2025 seventh-round pick who struggled in six fill-in starts, is also in the mix. 

Defense

Welcome, Raheem Morris. Now, fill some sizable shoes. The 49ers hired the Atlanta Falcons’ former head coach as their new defensive coordinator after Robert Saleh parlayed his 2025 handiwork into the Tennessee Titans’ head-coaching job. The 49ers ranked 13th in the NFL in scoring defense despite Warner, Bosa and defensive end Mykel Williams combining to miss 33 games.

The good news for Morris: Bosa and Warner should both be ready for Week 1, and Williams could be back in September. In addition, the 49ers took steps to upgrade the front four after they had an NFL-worst 20 sacks last year, three fewer than Cleveland’s Myles Garrett.

Bosa’s 14-game absence was a factor in the 49ers’ inability to pressure QBs, but it didn’t fully explain their lowest sack total since 2016. The 49ers didn’t re-sign their starting defensive tackles, Jordan Elliott and Kalia Davis, and acquired Osa Odighizuwa from the Dallas Cowboys for a third-round pick. Last year, Odighizuwa’s 52 pressures ranked sixth among defensive tackles and were 28 more than Elliott’s and Davis’ combined total. In the draft, the 49ers used a third-round pick on Texas Tech speed rusher Romello Height and invested a fourth-rounder on Oklahoma defensive tackle Gracen Halton.

The linebacker corps received a more modest makeover. The 49ers reunited what had been one of the NFL’s top duos, Warner and Dre Greenlaw, by bringing back Greenlaw, their 2019 fifth-round pick who spent 2025 with the Broncos. The 49ers created space in the crowded position group by trading Dee Winters to the Cowboys. Winters’ exit will create competition for the No. 3 role. The favorite is Tatum Bethune, a 2024 seventh-round pick who exceeded expectations last year when Warner’s broken ankle shoved him into a starting role.

Deommodore Lenoir remains the No. 1 cornerback, but sidekick Renardo Green, a 2024 second-rounder, might be on notice after a sophomore slump that ended with head coach Kyle Shanahan screaming at him on the sideline during the divisional-round playoff loss in Seattle. The 49ers signed veterans Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones to one-year deals. Both can provide meaningful competition.

Malik Mustapha appears to have a starting safety spot secured, but Ji’Ayir Brown and Marques Sigle look like shaky options after they took turns being benched in 2025.

Specialists

The 49ers turned an Achilles heel into an overwhelming strength in 2025. They signed placekicker Eddy Piñeiro after waiving disappointing 2023 third-round pick Jake Moody in September, and Piñeiro delivered an epic year worthy of a four-year, $17 million offseason contract extension. Piñeiro made 28-of-29 field-goal attempts, leading the NFL in accuracy, and his lone miss was a 64-yard attempt that hit the middle of the crossbar.

Long-snapper Jon Weeks, who made his second Pro Bowl at 39 last year, will return. But the 49ers didn’t re-sign punter Thomas Morstead, instead signing Corliss Waitman, who wasn’t tendered by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an unrestricted free agent.

Return specialist Skyy Moore signed with the Green Bay Packers. Among the possible replacements is Junior Bergen, a 2025 seventh-round pick who tied an FCS record with eight career punt-return scores and added a kickoff-return touchdown.

Final analysis

The 49ers remain among the NFC’s elite, but they have been surpassed in their division by the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, whose stellar recent drafts have created talented young cores. The 49ers aren’t lacking star power, but their stars are aging. Their premium picks from recent drafts — players such as Pearsall and Williams — likely need to emerge to end the Super Bowl drought.