Colin "Coward" "Cow Herd" Cowherd (aka Seahawks fanboy and the dumbest person in sports media) still thinks the 49ers will finish last in the NFC West.

I will try to be unbiased here. Their superstars are older. The roster does have depth issues and yes they wanted to keep Greenlaw, which is why they drafted his clone Nick Martin. Huf was always going to be gone. He is great but always injured and they have young safeties Mustapha and Brown to pair with vets like Pinnock and Grant. I do think DB depth could be a major issue this season. I think they addressed the DLine well enough and LBs well enough but if the defense has a downfall I expect it will be in the defensive backfield. They will be good if all their starters are healthy. Lenoir and Green are very good corners and Stout and Brown will be at least serviceable at nickel. By all accounts Stout looks great but he is a rookie so let's temper expectations as that's a tough position for a rookie to step in. Again, once Mustapha comes back they are good at safety with Mustapha and Pinnock or Mustapha and Brown but if they have a couple injuries it gets dicey.

Saleh will have a huge impact. Nick Sorenson was the worst defensive coordinator in the NFL last year. Saleh has routinely had top ten defenses as a DC and HC. He will build that again in SF. the D might not be top 10 to start the year but it will get there by mid to late season.

The offense will be better than last year. CMC healthy, Guerrendo as a solid 2, the OLine should be at least serviceable with Bartch over Banks at LG and much more depth than in the past. Having a top tier blocking TE2 is going to free up Kittle a lot. Pearsall, Robinson and Jennings can carry the WR load until Aiyuk comes back mid season and Purdy has added a deep ball (even if just for show that threat is going to open up ton of space). The offense also might start slow but I expect it will be cooking and will be a top 5 unit by mid to late season.

Special teams should be way better with a coordinator that actually holds players to account and with a punter who can also do kickoffs so Moody can just focus on not screwing up FGs too much. I expect they will be a top half of the league unit.

See you in February Coward! Maybe you will actually watch a game sometime between now and then.

Sats for all, GR