The 49ers have built something that should scare the rest of the NFC, but it also comes with a built-in expiration date.
Back in October of 2022, Christian McCaffrey arrived in San Francisco and helped turn the team into a Bay Area super group. Brock Purdy’s emergence only pushed Kyle Shanahan’s roster further into contender territory, to the point where a Super Bowl run started looking less like a dream and more like an expectation.
That’s the catch, though. A roster this loaded with veterans doesn’t stay this loaded forever.
McCaffrey, George Kittle, Trent Williams, Nick Bosa, Mike Evans, and Deebo Samuel are all 30 or older, and Fred Warner is set to join that group this season. San Francisco has stacked some of the league’s best talent in one place, but the age curve is starting to bite hard.
Tyler Sullivan’s recent ranking of the top 30 NFL players ages 30 and over drives that point home. The 49ers placed four players on the list - Williams, McCaffrey, Kittle, and Evans - and no other team had more than three.
McCaffrey, at 30, was the youngest of the group. Williams, meanwhile, is 38 and the joint-oldest player on the entire list.
Kittle and Evans are both at least 32.
And the production is still there. When healthy, these veterans give San Francisco a roster that can go toe-to-toe with anyone. Even the oldest names on the team are still performing at a dominant level.
But the window is getting tighter by the month. Williams is likely to be gone within the next couple of years.
Kittle and Evans haven’t given any indication that retirement is around the corner, but both are already among the oldest players at their positions. McCaffrey, who just turned 30, is now one of the oldest starting running backs in football.
The other issue is durability. For a group this veteran-heavy, health is no small detail. The 49ers may need nearly all of their stars intact late in the season if they want to get past the NFC’s best teams.
If they don’t cash in soon, this version of the 49ers may not get another real shot. Shanahan will keep San Francisco in the mix, but the clock on this particular group is ticking fast.
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The early returns have been encouraging in preseason play, with Pieiro knocking through multiple field goals and Jacob Cowing flashing game-changing juice on an 83-yard punt return touchdown. The coverage unit has turned in its own strong moments, too, and under Brant Boyer the group has looked more reliable and more disruptive, the kind of quiet edge that can end up mattering most when games tighten in the fourth quarter. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Running Back Battle Just Got More Complicated Behind McCaffrey
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The broader rookie class has been part of that conversation too, with Jaden Dugger and Romello Height drawing notice as the 49ers continue to sort out who can stick. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris also weighed in on the defensive side of the rookie growth curve, while the latest injury notes were more encouraging overall, with Deommodore Lenoir and DeZhaun Stribling listed day-to-day and CJ West and Dominick Puni back after concussion issues. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Future Backfield Plan Could Hinge On One Rising West Virginia RB
The 49ers have shown they are always willing to keep an eye on the next wave of backfield talent, and West Virginias Cam Cook is starting to look like a name worth tracking. Cook has already stood out for his quickness, elusiveness and vision, and at one point he led the nation in rushing yards, the kind of production that tends to get NFL scouts circling early when a running back still has college football ahead of him.
For San Francisco, the appeal is easy to see from a roster-building standpoint, even if nothing is close to concrete yet. The teams future running back plans will depend on how its current group holds up, but Cooks draft stock will be shaped by what he does in the upcoming season, when he gets another chance to show whether his game translates into the kind of long-term option the 49ers like to have in mind. [Read more 🡒]