The San Francisco 49ers made the NFC Championship in four of five seasons between 2019 and 2023. The expectations ahead of 2024 were, accordingly, nothing short of Super Bowl glory. Instead, Kyle Shanahan and company finished dead last in the NFC West, notably dropping seven of their last eight games of the season.

Of course, injuries and a plethora of late-game collapses were the primary drivers of the down year. Should the team really tear everything down? Or should trust be given to a roster that was a 4th-down stop away from winning the f*cking Super Bowl this time last year?

Luckily, I'm not being paid to make those difficult decisions–so today we'll just focus on recapping some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 2024 RECAP

  • Record: 6-11 (10.5 preseason win total)
  • Points per game: 22.9 (13th)
  • EPA per dropback: +0.143 (9th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.057 (12th)
  • Points per game allowed: 25.6 (29th)
  • Leading passer: Brock Purdy (3,864 pass yards, 20 TD, 12 INT)
  • Leading rusher: Jordan Mason (153 carries, 789 yards, 3 TD)
  • Leading receiver: George Kittle (78 receptions, 1,106 yards, 8 TD)

Biggest surprise: RB Jordan Mason

The prolonged absence of Christian McCaffrey led to Mason working as the team's starting RB for the first half of the season. The former undrafted free agent did not disappoint, as only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley had more rushing yards than Mason during the first eight weeks of 2024.

Even more impressive was the manner in which the 49ers' overqualified backup RB went about picking up his yards. Third in Next-Gen Stats rushing yards over expected per carry, Mason finds himself in elite company when looking at some of his advanced rushing metrics.

 

A midseason AC joint sprain and December high ankle sprain prevented Mason from putting forward an encore during the second half of the season; either way, kudos to the third-year talent for making the most out of his opportunities inside easily the league's most banged-up backfield.

Biggest disappointment: WR Deebo Samuel

Brandon Aiyuk missed 10 games. Christian McCaffrey only played in three full contests. The 49ers needed Deebo to step up more than ever in 2024 … and he simply wasn't up to the task. Overall, his 806 total yards were his fewest in a non-injury-shortened season, and the longtime fantasy star limped to a brutal WR50 finish in PPR points per game.

Sadly, Samuel's falloff was felt both as a receiver and rusher:

  • Receiving: Samuel's 1.6 yards per route run ranked just 51st among all WRs with 50-plus targets last season. Quite the falloff from what we saw from Deebo in 2019-2023 when his 2.31 yards per route run were good for the ninth-highest mark among 155 qualified players at the position.
     
  • Rushing: Deebo (6.3) only trailed De'Von Achane (7.8) in yards per carry from 2019 to 2023 among all non-QBs with 100-plus carries. But in 2024? Samuel's average of 3.2 yards per carry ranked 71st among 76 qualified players. Not great!

Maybe his streak of balling out in odd-numbered years continues in 2025; getting back to separating at even a decent level would be a great first step in doing so–Samuel's "Open Score" ranked 102nd among 116 qualified WRs last season.

Key Injuries

There are two key situations to be aware of as we progress through the offseason:

  • Brandon Aiyuk (ACL): Had surgery in mid-November to repair a torn ACL and MCL. This later-season timing and multi-ligament nature of the injury adds quite a bit of concern when attempting to project an early-season return, although being optimistic with a potential 9-12 month timeline would put him on pace to perhaps get back to work at some point in September.
     
  • Christian McCaffrey (knee/Achilles): Had recovered from his Achilles issue in November, and noted in early January that he was close to fully recovered from the season-ending knee issue. Learned doctors believe there's no reason to expect the issues to persist into 2025, and the age cliff isn't necessarily something that is directly around the corner.

What Are The Biggest Needs of the 49ers Ahead Of 2025?

Team Need No. 1: Offensive line

Obviously, LT Trent Williams is one of the best players in the league regardless of position, but he and the team's high-end skill-position players have really helped make up for an otherwise meh group up front.

At a minimum, re-signing or replacing LG Aaron Banks is a must, but it also wouldn't hurt to begin investing in some real higher-end day-one or day-two resources. The 49ers have used just two top-100 draft picks on their offensive line over the past five drafts combined–that's tied for the second-lowest mark in the league.

Team Need No. 2: Cornerback

More youthful talent across the defense as a whole is necessary: The 49ers join the Steelers as the only teams to devote just four top-100 draft picks to their defense since 2020.

Still, it's in the secondary where help is really needed. The team locked down Deommodore Lenoir for the long term back in November, but the likes of Charvarius Ward, Isaac Yiadom, and Nick McCloud are all free agents.

Kudos to rookie Renardo Green for earning PFF's 15th-highest grade in coverage last year; just realize he and Lenoir (28th) were the 49ers' only corners ranked inside their top 85.

Team Need No. 3: Defensive tackle

Javon Hargrave is a free agent and played just three games last season before partially tearing his right triceps. Depth piece Kevin Givens is also hitting free agency, while the likes of Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott didn't exactly thrive during their respective debut seasons in San Francisco.

This defense will always have a shot at locking down opposing offenses whenever Fred Warner and Nick Bosa are healthy enough to suit up, and the return of Robert Saleh should be an upgrade over Nick Sorensen and Brandon Staley.

That said: Clearly this group struggled to slow down opposing rushing attacks in 2024.

Worst defenses in EPA allowed per rush in 2024:

  • 49ers (+0.008)
  • Saints (+0.014)
  • Cowboys (+0.084)
  • Panthers (+0.097)

Overall, Javon Kinlaw back in 2020 is the last defensive tackle the 49ers have drafted with even a top-200 pick! Let's fix that, please.