Turf Show Times
The Rams will meet their arch-rivals from the NFC West, the San Francisco 49ers, about 10 weeks from now. Looking at the changes that the 49ers have made in the offseason, including the addition of Mike Evans and the return of Nick Bosa from a torn ACL, it’s not clear to me if San Francisco has improved as much as the media seems to think they have.
Did San Francisco’s changes actually improve their team?
Or will the 49ers simply look a little different but have the same outcome as every other season, over-achieving but falling short?
The loss of Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator is huge. The former Jets and current Titans head coach helped Kyle Shanahan’s defense rebound in 2025, a year after San Francisco’s defense had an uncharacteristic collapse under DC Nick Sorenson, surviving the losses of Nick Bosa and Fred Warner to injury.
Saleh left the 49ers for Tennessee, and Shanahan hired Raheem Morris shortly after he was let go by the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’ve been with Raheem a number of places,” Shanahan said. “That’s why I respect him so much as a coach, as a person. … Raheem has been in a lot of different schemes, knows how to utilize personnel, and I’ve always known he’s one of the best coaches I’ve been around.”
I can’t put Morris on the same tier as Saleh though. Not as a defensive coordinator.
Saleh has had more experience and more success as a defensive coordinator compared to Morris. Did Shanahan hire Morris because of talent or because of familiarity? And if anyone else is familiar with Morris’s defense, it’s McVay.
The 49ers have a few new faces on the roster this year that will be counted on to improve:
GM John Lynch made a trade with the Cowboys for underrated defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. Casual observers may not be as familiar with the name, but the Niners certainly put a lot of stock into him: San Francisco traded a third-round pick for Odighizuwa, less than a year after he signed a four-year, $80 million contract with Dallas.
The defensive tackle isn’t a sack-artist, but Cowboys fans love his team presence and hustle. In other words, good, not great, but an upgrade nonetheless. Shanahan has already called him one of the best leaders on the team however:
Greenlaw returns after he spent one year with the Denver Broncos and though he is not a Hall of Famer, or even a Pro Bowler, he knows the assignment and should be fully healed from a torn Achilles suffered in 2024. He’s still the best linebacker[ the Niners have found to...
