Mayock on the 49ers: I love what they’ve done and give them a ton of credit, but it didn’t happen overnight

In a copycat league, we are sure to see teams attempt to mimic what the San Francisco 49ers did in 2019. Both on offense, defense, and as far as team-building goes. The Niners team speed was overwhelming on both sides of the ball this past season, so I wonder if we’ll see more teams go that direction as we get closer to free agency and the draft. One certain thing: teams took notice.

Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock spoke about the 49ers success, and how it didn’t happen overnight:

I think they did a great job. I give John [Lynch] and Kyle [Shanahan] and those guys a ton of credit. I disagree, I don’t think it happened overnight. Their quarterback got hurt (Week 3 2018), which artificially set the record back for a year. But what they’ve been building over several years, is a group of talented defensive linemen. A culture and everybody laughs about that word; I don’t. Building a culture is way harder than people pretend it is. It’s easy to say and hard to do, and that’s why I give them so much credit, is they’ve built a culture on toughness, they run the friggin’ ball, they believe in getting after the quarterback. I love what they’ve done, and I give them a ton of credit, but it didn’t happen overnight.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a diehard fan that can’t get enough of the 49ers. You’ve sat through games where C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens had to quarterback your team. You watched Brian Hoyer start and lose six games as he found ways to test your fandom. I’m sure you’ve wanted a new defensive coordinator, and probably a new head coach and general manager at one point since then.

Then, Jimmy Garoppolo comes along, and you start to remember what it feels like to enjoy your Sundays. Adding veterans like Richard Sherman, and drafting studs like Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel get all of the headlines. To me, it’s the puzzle pieces like Ben Garland, Emmanuel Moseley, and Dre Greenlaw that made this team who they are today. Go check out some highlights before Jimmy G arrived. This wasn’t overnight.