The pressure is on for the San Francisco 49ers in 2025. The team is a top-bloated squad with elite talent, but perhaps lacking the depth they may need to succeed deep into the postseason. The team may be better, much better, than we all expect, but the squad has holes and issues across the roster. Namely, on offense.
They don't have the depth or the cap movement to just expect things to get better. Especially with so much money invested in the offense already. Especially at quarterback. So the squad will need to rely heavily on the top talent on the roster, putting even more pressure on these elite-level players.
We're looking at three players who have the most pressure on them, but first, an honorable mention for Nick Bosa. Bosa was hurt last year and has had fewer and fewer sacks since he hit 18 in 2023. It's likely he'll rebound, but he's too expensive a player not to be producing at elite levels. So with that, let's get to the players with the most to prove.
1. QB Brock Purdy
Of course, Brock Purdy is on the list. He's one of the most expensive players in the league, and many are still asking why the 49ers gave him the elite quarterback contract that they did, seeing as he was anything but in 2024. If the San Francisco 49ers are to power through their limitations in 2025, Purdy has to be the driving force.
The team isn't loaded with talent on offense anymore, and Purdy has got to get more production out of the players he'll have available. You can't make excuses for a player when you're making the kind of money Purdy is. It no longer matters if he's the only Pro Bowler-caliber player on the field in 2025; with his salary, he's gotta find a way to make it work.
2. LB Fred Warner
We're not seeing linebackers make huge money anymore in 2025 unless they're pass rushers. Fred Warner isn't a pass rusher (he has 10 sacks for his career), but he's one of the best tacklers in the league, and he's not too shabby against the pass. Still, he made bank this offseason, and now the All-Pro has to prove that money was well spent by being one of, if not the best, defensive players on the team.
If Warner slips in productivity in any way, this contract will be seen as a mistake. More specifically, the defense already has to be elite to make up for some of the concerns the team has on offense, and if they slip as a unit due to Warner's play, look out. Changes will come fast.
3. WR Ricky Pearsall
You hate to tell a second-year kid that the weight of the offense is on you, but that's what the 49ers are going to have to do. Ricky Pearsall is a first-round pick and is expected to be good enough to not only replace Brandon Aiyuk while he recovers, but also replace Deebo Samuel as well. That's a huge ask for any Pro Bowl talent, let alone a former first-rounder who's only in his second year in the league. Pearsall, though, won't have a lot of leeway to make mistakes, not with the pressure on the team.
After all, we ask more out of first-round picks than any other draft pick for a reason. The hope is that Pearsall, like Jauan Jennings, Aiyuk, and Samuel, can become the next Pro Bowl-caliber wide receiver in recent memory. If he can't, the team will be scrambling for someone who can late in the season. That is, if they're still in the playoff race by that point.