The San Francisco 49ers churned through a whole lot of their roster this offseason, with retirements, free agency departures and a trade boosting the number of young players on the roster. When Jed York and Trent Baalke had their press conference following Jim Harbaugh's final game, there was discussion about whether or not the team could find what they need in a new coach. This led to Trent Baalke saying, "This isn't a rebuild situation. This is a reload situation."
Three games into the season, those words are being thrown in the team's face. It is only Week 3, but the last two games have shown a team that has a lot of work in front of them if they want to turn this season around in any way, shape or form. NaVorro Bowman was asked about the young players and said it could be the issue on defense, but tried to move away from excuses.
On Monday, head coach Jim Tomsula also got some questions about the young talent on the team. He acknowledged this team is a work in progress, but would not say the team was into a rebuilding period. Obviously he was not going to say the team was rebuilding, but the conversation has quickly reached that point.
The Baalke comment did come before four retirements and numerous other departures, so that context is certainly worth noting. However, looking at the schedule, more losses will push this team further toward the "rebuilding" side of the spectrum.
Looking at the upcoming games leading into the bye week, things could get really ugly, really quickly. The 49ers can win some of these games, but considering how they played the last two weeks, they very well could lose the next six games on their schedule. They could turn this thing around in a hurry, but right now, it's hard to be inspired by the on-field product. Until they show some kind of adjustment and improvement, I am not overly optimistic about where this team will be heading into that Week 10 bye. And if things do continue south,
Week 4: vs. Packers
Week 5: @ Giants
Week 6: vs. Ravens
Week 7: vs. Seahawks
Week 8: @ Rams
Week 9: vs. Falcons
Week 11: @ Seahawks
Week 12: vs. Cardinals
Week 13: @ Bears
Week 14: @ Browns
Week 15: vs. Bengals
Week 16: @ Lions
Week 17: vs. Rams