The Associated Press announced their All Pro teams on Friday, and there were 17 first time selections. The San Francisco 49ers did not have anybody make the team, and in fact, had nobody receive a single vote. They were the only team to not have a single player receive a vote.
31 teams had a player receive a vote on the AP All-Pro team. The only team without one was the #49ers https://t.co/M7WpzozyO1
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) January 6, 2017
There are all sorts of complaints to be made about the 49ers this past year, and really much of the past three years. Injuries, retirement, free agency, and trades have depleted the roster considerably. However, this kind of thing is one very clear example of not replenishing even small parts of the roster sufficiently. There are some decent options, which are important, but the team has struggled to add serious impact players in recent years.
The 49ers next general manager will hold the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and potentially $80+ million in cap space. They will have all sorts to work with, but they are going to need to make some serious impact moves out of the gates. The 49ers have quality players, but it remains to be seen if a DeForest Buckner can be a guy who you build a franchise around, or if he is more just a strong piece to the puzzle. Both are important, but the 49ers need to find cornerstone players very soon.