San Francisco 49ers: A few players critical to team’s success in 2018
By Kevin Saito
The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2018 season with high expectations – here are six players critical to their success this year.
The San Francisco 49ers, armed with a real coaching staff for the first time since Jim Harbaugh was run out of town on a rail, what looks to be a genuine franchise quarterback, and a solid supporting cast, look like they could be turning things around.
After starting the season a disastrous 1-10 and looking anything but like an NFL caliber club, head coach Kyle Shanahan made the move and put Jimmy Garoppolo under center. The result was pretty much as stunning as it was immediate.
A Garoppolo-led 49ers squad closed out the year with five straight wins, moving to 6-10 on the year. And while a 6-10 record may not be anything to write home about, it certainly pointed the arrow upward for a franchise that hasn’t had it pointed in that direction in a while.
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Now though, they enter the season with some pretty high expectations – set both by themselves, as well as by people around the league.
It’s probably pretty safe to say the 49ers won’t be able to sneak up on anybody this year and will be getting every team’s best shot on a week in, week out basis. And knowing teams will be bringing their A-games to face them every week makes it all the more critical that they continue to play at the high level they did over the last five games of last season.
The overall talent level on the roster this season is quite a bit higher than it has been over the past few years, and certainly, the coaching staff is certainly head and shoulders above the last couple of coaching regimes, which is only fueling the high expectations surrounding the squad this year.
But, with a number of new faces on the team who need to produce right away, as well as some returning vets who need to step up their game, the 49ers have no shortage of players they need to contribute in a meaningful way if they’re going to be competitive this season.
Despite needing meaningful contributions and one hundred percent effort from everybody on the 53-man roster when the regular season gets underway, they’re going to need even more than that from some.
Not all players or situations are created equal, and the success of the few is vital to the success of the whole.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at a few players, whose success is critical to the overall success of the club this season.