The 49ers are walking into training camp with a very different feel than they had a year ago. No contract standoffs.
No holdout drama. And, just as important, no talk of a “rebuild” or “retool” hanging over the season the way it did heading into last year.
That shift starts with the stars on defense. Getting Fred Warner and Nick Bosa back changes the whole shape of the unit.
It means role players won’t be forced into starter-level snaps, and the depth behind them can settle into the jobs it was built for. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris also gets more to work with than Robert Saleh did a year ago, including second-year versions of Mykel Williams and Alfred Collins.
On the edge, Morris’ secondary pass rushers will be rookies Romello Height and Gracen Halton instead of Kalia Davis and Clelin Ferrell.
But the biggest swing for the 49ers is on offense.
When San Francisco got blown out in the NFC Divisional round, Brock Purdy completed just three passes to wide receivers. Three.
The easy explanation was that the offensive line got overwhelmed and Purdy never had time. That was part of it - he was under pressure on 39% of his dropbacks - but it wasn’t the whole story.
On average, Purdy still had 4.24 seconds to throw on 33 dropbacks, and he completed only 55.6% of his passes because there was nobody open to throw to.
A rewatch made that even clearer. The wide receiver play was rough.
Next Gen Stats’ catch rate over expected numbers were negative across the board, and Ricky Pearsall’s looked so low it seemed like a mistake. Against an elite secondary, leaning on Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne was asking a lot.
That’s why the receiver room is the biggest difference-maker between the 2025 and 2026 versions of this team. The field will open up.
Safeties won’t be able to creep down as freely without worrying about getting beaten over the top. Defenses won’t be able to squeeze everything toward George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey underneath.
It also showed up in the run game, where the lack of physicality from the wideouts made life harder than it needed to be. McCaffrey had to do a lot of the work himself behind the line of scrimmage because the margin for error was so thin.
Mike Evans changes that equation. He gives the 49ers a weapon every down and a trusted third-down option.
His presence also pushes Pearsall into a different role, where he can work against a CB2 instead of being the main target. Last season, when that happened, Pearsall took advantage of lesser corners.
Rookie De’Zhaun Stribling adds speed, but he brings it in a 6’2”, 200-plus-pound frame that can help over the middle, after the catch, and as a blocker against linebackers and safeties - the kind of work the 49ers were missing.
Then there are the smaller, quicker receivers like Christian Kirk, Jacob Cowing, and Jordan Watkins. They give Shanahan the kind of options that can run coverage off and stretch the field horizontally, while helping keep the top three fresh over the course of the season.
Everything points back to Evans and the ripple effect of having a player defenses can’t leave alone in single coverage. That’s why the 49ers offense is set up to get back to elite status - because of the talent on the roster, not because Shanahan has to manufacture answers.
In Other News...
49ers Already Have A Few Rookies Fans May Regret Watching Closely
Training camp is about to put a few 49ers rookies under the microscope, but not all of them are walking into the same kind of spotlight. Some are already facing an uphill climb simply because of where they fit on the roster, while others are trying to show enough in a short window to make themselves more than just names on the practice field. For a team that has built a habit of squeezing value out of young players, the early read on this class is that patience may matter as much as raw talent.
Willis is one of the more interesting cases because his path appears tied to development as much as immediate opportunity, and Halton may be even tougher for fans to track once camp gets rolling. He could blend into the background behind other defensive linemen before preseason games give him a better chance to stand out, which leaves the real question centered on who can turn limited reps into a lasting impression before the roster picture starts to harden. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Fans May Need To Reconsider This Questioned Draft Pick
DeZhaun Stribling drew the kind of immediate reaction that usually follows a draft pick San Francisco fans are still trying to sort out, but the early noise around him may not have told the full story. The 49ers took him in the 2026 NFL Draft, and while the selection landed with some skepticism at first, later reporting painted a more favorable picture of where he stood on boards around the league.
Striblings appeal goes beyond raw upside. Evaluators have pointed to his blocking, speed and fit in an offense that can make use of those traits, and there is already some belief he could carve out a real role sooner rather than later. With a path that may open because of injuries and uncertainty at receiver, he has started to look less like a questionable pickup and more like the kind of sleeper who can force his way into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]