Gridiron Blitz: San Francisco 49ers Season Preview

The next team up on our Gridiron Blitz is the San Francisco 49ers

Music to listen to: Falling to Pieces by Faith No More

It was a tough, tough call to choose between Faith No More and Metallica. I like both bands tremendously but here’s the catch. While Metallica honed its skills and developed in San Fran, the group was formed in Los Angeles. Faith No More was formed and based out of San Fran. That’s why the band gets the win.

Current State: I’ve said this for two seasons. If the 49ers had a competent quarterback, they would not only win the NFC West but be a serious contender in the NFC overall.

However, with the exodus of top players from Arizona, the struggles of Seattle and rebuilding in St. Louis, San Francisco has to take advantage of the chance to finally win the division.

Biggest Offseason Change: Mike Singletary is still the head coach but the team does have a new general manager in Trent Baalke. This may not mean much to the on the field situation right now but he has a good relationship.

Furthermore, the offensive and defensive coordinators from last season, Jimmy Raye and Greg Manusky, return for this season.

On the field, the 49ers return 20 of 22 starters from last year.

Uniform Grade: It was a smart move to go back to the lighter red and gold pants that the team had for decades. I always felt that those uniforms represent one of the best periods of dominance an NFL team will ever have (four Super Bowls in ten years), so why go away from it? Grade: B+

Best Player: From his first game in the NFL, Patrick Willis has been one of the best if not the top inside linebacker in the NFL. He mans a defensive unit that is good enough to lead a team to a conference title game. Willis has also resigned a new deal that contractually locks him in to San Francisco for the next five years. The thing you also have to give him credit for is improving his coverage skills, something that he was average at coming into the league but has now become one of the better guys in the league in that category.

Other players that were considered here were tight end Vernon Davis, who has finally shown maturity since Singletary has become head coach and joined the argument for the best player at his position. Running back Frank Gore also has the potential to be a 1,500-yard rusher in this offense if he stays healthy. He can also catch the ball out of the backfield well but it would benefit the 49ers to give Gore rest allow backups such as Anthony Dixon to take the load off of the star running back.

Most important player: The easy choice is quarterback Alex Smith. If he is ever going to be an elite quarterback and earn his salary as the top overall pick of his draft, this is the year he must make major steps in his game. He’s been in the league five years and playing under the same offense for a second season. There are no more excuses.

The problem is that while he may have the intelligence and even throwing accuracy to be successful, his physical attributes are severely lacking for a top level quarterback. He won’t be able to overcome that but the 49ers have built an offense and even a defense that can help Smith become a winner. He just has to take the step to make it happen.

Best Case: The 49ers finally win the NFC West and even wins a home playoff game before eventually falling to a better conference team like New Orleans, Dallas, Green Bay, etc.

Worst Case: San Francisco still underachieves and misses the playoffs.

Coaching: Whenever you hire a great former player as your head coach, there is potential for trouble because its tough for the coach to relate to players he’s coaching that weren’t similar to him during his playing days. When you’re a player that reached the level of Singletary, it can be hard for him to comprehend a player not giving his maximum effort on the field.

We saw this when Singletary kicked Vernon Davis off of the field during a game in his first season as head coach. However, that moment showed that the head coach wasn’t going to tolerate the habits that had become normal for the losing 49ers.

The end result has been the development of a tough team that plays hard for its head coach and more importantly for each other.

The best thing that Singletary has done is give the 49ers continuity on all levels. I’ve mentioned the returning coaches and starters but that’s something that is necessary if you expect to win a division.

First memory of team: As a Giants fan, the 49ers were a major rivalry opponent for my favorite team.

I didn’t like the jerseys, the arrogance and most importantly Joe Montana. I thought he was the most overrated player ever in football and had the benefit of playing with Hall of Fame calliber players at receiver, tight end, running back, offensive line and one of the top defensive units during his playing career. I always said that if Phil Simms was on the 49ers, he would be considered the greatest quarterback ever.

So it was with great joy that I saw Montana get taken out by Leonard Marshall in the 1990 NFC Championship Game. The first time I ever cried tears of joy for a team winning was the Giants; 15-13 victory in that contest. Fun times.

Schedule: The 49ers will have to deal with St. Louis, Arizona and Seattle in the division.

The home games are against New Orleans, Philadelphia, Oakland, Denver and Tampa. The away games are at Kansas City, Atlanta, Carolina, Green Bay and San Diego.

City Nicknames: The City by the Bay is a nice option.

Fantasy Focus: I like for Gore and Davis to have big years.

Overall Outlook: This is the year that the 49ers make a major move in not only the NFC West but the conference overall. They won’t make the Super Bowl but can definitely make a run to the NFC Title game.

Final Record: 10-6

Gridiron Blitz 2010 Season Previews:

AFC East:

AFC North: