The 49ers are walking into 2026 with the kind of offensive expectations that usually come with Kyle Shanahan’s name attached. Even after a season battered by injuries at quarterback and across the pass-catching group, San Francisco still finished sixth in Expected Points Added per play on offense last year.
That’s the floor. The bigger question is how high this unit can climb with a revamped receiving corps and training camp getting closer.
Three players, in particular, enter the season carrying real pressure to deliver.
Mike Evans is the biggest swing of the bunch. The 49ers made a free agency investment in him, and that move needs to hit. Shanahan’s system gives the passing game a high baseline almost no matter who lines up where, but if San Francisco wants the aerial attack to reach the level it’s chasing in 2026, Evans has to look like the player whose career is almost certainly headed for the Hall of Fame.
Even at 33, Evans still brings real value as a red-zone weapon and a downfield threat. The 49ers were already strong in the red zone last season, but his addition matters most as a way to stretch the field.
San Francisco has gone two seasons without a true vertical presence, with Brandon Aiyuk largely unavailable, and Evans doesn’t need blazing speed to change that. He’s a high-end ball-winner who can make plays deep without much separation.
The concern is obvious enough. His 2025 season was wrecked by injury, and age plus that recent health issue make it fair to wonder how much he can handle as the No. 1 receiver.
If he gets hurt again, the receiver depth chart starts to look thin in a hurry. For the 49ers, the goal is simple: Evans has to stay healthy and build a connection with Brock Purdy that raises the ceiling of the offense.
Ricky Pearsall is in a different kind of spotlight, but the pressure is just as real. His job is straightforward: stay on the field. He couldn’t control the circumstances that derailed his rookie year, but another season interrupted by a knee injury would put him in a tough spot with the organization.
When he’s healthy, Pearsall has shown he can win with route-running, make plays at every level of the field and come through in big moments. He looks like a strong fit alongside Evans, and he has a clear rapport with both Purdy and Mac Jones.
But availability matters, and the 49ers have already added another receiver in De’Zhaun Stribling with their top pick this year, even if he brings a different style. If Pearsall can’t stay on the field, the team’s patience could wear thin quickly, and his fifth-year option would become a much easier call.
Dominick Puni doesn’t carry the same name recognition, but the pressure on him is no less important to the offense’s overall health. The right guard had a promising rookie year in 2024, then couldn’t build on it last season, leaving the interior of the offensive line as one of the biggest unresolved issues in the trenches.
That matters because the 49ers already have uncertainty at left guard, where Connor Colby, Robert Jones and rookie Carver Willis are expected to compete. San Francisco would prefer not to have another open battle on the other side of center Jake Brendel. Puni needs to make right guard his spot and remove one more question from the line.
If he does that, and backs up a strong camp with a solid season, the 49ers could start thinking about getting ahead of his free agency and talking contract. If he doesn’t, the offensive line could become a problem that drags the whole unit down.
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49ers Are About To Get A Brutal Answer On Brock Purdy
The 49ers have spent the offseason making a clear statement about where they believe their future sits, shifting the roster and payroll toward Brock Purdy and the offense after years of leaning on defense as the foundation. San Francisco has added veteran help at receiver and elsewhere to give Purdy more support, while the front office has accepted a different kind of risk by letting the other side of the ball get younger and less proven under new coordinator Raheem Morris.
Now comes the hard part: the schedule will show quickly whether that gamble was smart or simply bold. Early matchups against top-tier opponents will put Purdy, the revamped passing game and an inexperienced defense under immediate pressure, and the results should tell a lot about whether this version of the 49ers is built to contend or just built to score. [Read more 🡒]
One Young 49ers Linebacker Is Suddenly A Trade Name To Watch
Nick Martin has barely had a chance to establish himself in San Francisco, and that alone makes his training camp worth watching. The second-year linebacker was limited last season and then lost the rest of it to a concussion, while the 49ers also added Jaden Dugger, another move that only tightens the competition around the back end of the roster.
Still, Martin has enough pedigree that he is not just another camp body, especially with Robert Salehs past interest in him lingering in the background. If Martin flashes in camp or the preseason, the conversation could shift quickly, and a joint practice later this summer would give teams a natural setting to at least explore whether there is a fit worth discussing. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Fans Wont Love What One Scout Thinks About Mike Evans
Mike Evans arrives in San Francisco with a rsum that still commands respect, but his most recent season was a reminder that even proven veterans can hit an unfamiliar dip. He played in only eight games and finished with 30 catches, 368 receiving yards and three touchdowns, a rare step back for a receiver who had built his reputation on steady production and big-play reliability.
For the 49ers, the appeal is obvious: if Evans can rediscover his usual level, he gives Kyle Shanahan another dependable target and Brock Purdy another seasoned option in an offense that likes to spread the ball around. The question now is whether the new setting can help him rebound from a year in which he fell short of the benchmarks that had defined the rest of his career. [Read more 🡒]