The San Francisco 49ers’ 2016 season was by all means a disaster. If there was a play where an assistant went to go get a cup of coffee, it would be messed up in some way. Now that Trent Baalke is out of the building, along with Chip Kelly, it leaves new general manager John Lynch with the roster that secured only two wins. First thing’s first: watch film.
Matt Maiocco wrote on Friday that Lynch doesn’t see a 2-14 team though.
“There’s some work to be done,” Lynch said. “I don’t think it’s a 2-14 roster, though. I think it’s a little better than that.”
Plenty of blame can go around for why the team under-performed the way it did. The revolving door of wide receivers, the terrible defensive scheme, the predictable playcalling—and the roster. There’s a lot to be said on not just losing, but how you lose, and pinning the season on the 49ers simply being outplayed and outcoached may be far fetched with some of the crazy playcalls we saw.
But let’s not kid ourselves. The 49ers are devoid of talent across the board, at least, that’s what we should say. The same was said when Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2011. The roster that Mike Singletary had went 6-10 the previous year and the 49ers had hardly anyone predicting they would go 8-8, let alone play in the NFC Championship game. Harbaugh got the best out of what he had, and it was virtually a different team. Guys that were virtual washouts became ballers. Alex Smith, who was booed out of the building, had a career year.
This is a much worse team Shanahan inherited—that much is apparent. But do you think the 49ers are better than their record indicates?