2025 OFFSEASON

[CrimsonCrew]

PFF ranked Brendel 24th among centers. Most of those behind him are young guys with at least upside. For instance, Tanor Bortolini comes in at 30th despite going into his second year and a higher PFF score than Brendel (balanced performance with run and pass blocking around 65 vs. Brendel with good run blocking and bad pass blocking). I think it's tough to justify that ranking as we can assume Bortolini will improve, while the expectation should be that Brendel is stable or worse this year (though better play at LG could help him). Lions' rookie Tate Ratledge comes in at 32nd, but if he sticks at center, I'd bet heavily on him being better than Brendel by the end of the year.

We had a lot of holes on this roster entering the offseason - and more after the cuts an trades - but perhaps the most inexplicable thing the FO did was fail to bring in any legitimate competition for Brendel. If he's just handed the starting spot again, I'm going to lose my mind. He's a liability that held our entire offense back last year. He needs to at least earn his spot this year.

24th out of 32 teams isn't very good (and kind of an odd ranking given that he was 15th in pass protection and 22nd in run blocking; seems like his overall should have been a tad higher but whatever). But if he's already in the bottom quarter of starting centers, at 32 years old is it even realistic to think he'll get better? My understanding of how Father Time typically works is that we must expect Brendel to regress this year; the question is whether it will be a gradual decline or a fall-off-the cliff decline. I was disappointed that we didn't draft an OT this year given that Trent is 36 and pretty much a shoo-in to miss some games; I am even more bewildered that we didn't draft (or make a FA pickup since it wasn't a great draft for centers) a C since we know that Brendel will definitely NOT be getting any younger. Obviously Kyle must feel that Brendel was adequate last season, but as he continues to regress we can't even expect him to play at last year's 25th percentile level again.

According to PFF, he was 13th in run blocking and 51st in pass blocking.

[Jikkle]

PFF ranked Brendel 24th among centers. Most of those behind him are young guys with at least upside. For instance, Tanor Bortolini comes in at 30th despite going into his second year and a higher PFF score than Brendel (balanced performance with run and pass blocking around 65 vs. Brendel with good run blocking and bad pass blocking). I think it's tough to justify that ranking as we can assume Bortolini will improve, while the expectation should be that Brendel is stable or worse this year (though better play at LG could help him). Lions' rookie Tate Ratledge comes in at 32nd, but if he sticks at center, I'd bet heavily on him being better than Brendel by the end of the year.

We had a lot of holes on this roster entering the offseason - and more after the cuts an trades - but perhaps the most inexplicable thing the FO did was fail to bring in any legitimate competition for Brendel. If he's just handed the starting spot again, I'm going to lose my mind. He's a liability that held our entire offense back last year. He needs to at least earn his spot this year.

24th out of 32 teams isn't very good (and kind of an odd ranking given that he was 15th in pass protection and 22nd in run blocking; seems like his overall should have been a tad higher but whatever). But if he's already in the bottom quarter of starting centers, at 32 years old is it even realistic to think he'll get better? My understanding of how Father Time typically works is that we must expect Brendel to regress this year; the question is whether it will be a gradual decline or a fall-off-the cliff decline. I was disappointed that we didn't draft an OT this year given that Trent is 36 and pretty much a shoo-in to miss some games; I am even more bewildered that we didn't draft (or make a FA pickup since it wasn't a great draft for centers) a C since we know that Brendel will definitely NOT be getting any younger. Obviously Kyle must feel that Brendel was adequate last season, but as he continues to regress we can't even expect him to play at last year's 25th percentile level again.

Typically offensive linemen have a gradual decline unless those lower leg injuries just keep piling up on them. Think it's probably due to the position being more of a strength-based position and that along with technician kinds of positions tend to age way better than anything dependent on speed.

Off the top of my head I think Darrell Green might be the only guy that never seemed like he lost any speed no matter how old he got. Almost everyone else that relies on speed usually have the steeper declines the deeper they get into their 30s. Though some guys are so fast that even a drop off of speed still means they are really fast.

[Jikkle]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/each-nfl-teams-biggest-offseason-loss-49ers-wont-look-same-without-deebo-samuel-chiefs-to-miss-joe-thuney/

Yeah, I think they misspelled Dre Greenlaw.

Anyone who's paid attention to 9ers games the past couple of years should know that Deebo isn't much of a loss. In fact I still stick with it being a positive more than a negative because Shanahan will stop wasting plays handing him off the ball or throwing screens to him and feature guys that can actually beat man coverage by an LB and might actually put effort into every play.

I'm not going to rule out him being extra motivated being on a new team and having a good year with the Commanders when he's not out with injury but if he was still a 9ers I'd expect the same effort out of him as last season.

[clyde21]

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[CrimsonCrew]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/each-nfl-teams-biggest-offseason-loss-49ers-wont-look-same-without-deebo-samuel-chiefs-to-miss-joe-thuney/

Yeah, I think they misspelled Dre Greenlaw.

Anyone who's paid attention to 9ers games the past couple of years should know that Deebo isn't much of a loss. In fact I still stick with it being a positive more than a negative because Shanahan will stop wasting plays handing him off the ball or throwing screens to him and feature guys that can actually beat man coverage by an LB and might actually put effort into every play.

I'm not going to rule out him being extra motivated being on a new team and having a good year with the Commanders when he's not out with injury but if he was still a 9ers I'd expect the same effort out of him as last season.

Deebo has always been a unique player, and he still has some of that ability, but I don't know how much more of it he can sustain physically at this point. If Aiyuk hadn't gone down, I think he would have had a better year. At this point, he can't be the primary weapon. He's too easy to game plan for due to his limitations as a pure receiver. But if he's the second or third option, he is still able to rip off big plays on occasion.

We lost a ton of guys, but really no one who was an impact player last year (granted we sucked while they were out or limited). Banks was downright bad. Ward had a down year dealing with injury and tragedy. Huf and Greenlaw barely played. Hargrave was never really good with us. Losing a healthy Greenlaw is a bigger deal for us than losing Samuel, IMO, but certainly last year Samuel had the most impact of players we lost, and he still wasn't exactly an impact player. You could actually argue that cutting Maliek Collins was the biggest blow given his level of play for us (not great, but good against the pass) given that we don't have proven players to replace him and are really banking on rookies coming through.

There was another guy who rated the Niners as having the second-worst offseason in the league recently. That may be fair given the players they lost, though even then I think it's overstated as noted above, but I think it dramatically understates the significance of going from Sorensen to Saleh. Sorensen was indescribably bad. We couldn't stop anyone down the stretch. We just kept using the same ineffective defensive scheme. It was painful to watch. Saleh will dramatically improve that, and I expect STs to be a lot better, too. I would be really surprised if this team is anywhere near as bad this year as it was last year, though we're still very thin at a lot of spots.

[CrimsonCrew]

Along the lines of the Sorensen-Saleh exchange, not mentioned among the 25-best moves of the offseason:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25203286-ranking-25-best-moves-2025-nfl-offseason

That's absurd. It's such a huge change, and anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Niners should appreciate what a disaster Sorensen was. I'm not saying the defense will now be top-5, but barring significant injury issues, I would be willing to bet they vault into the top half of the league. Given what we saw last year, that would be a dramatic improvement. Way more than any single player is likely to account for.

[CrimsonCrew]

Not willing to read into this much at all at this point, but Larry Krueger has been extremely complimentary of Austen Pleasants, describing him as pretty noticeably improving his body and his foot quickness over the offseason. I'm very skeptical of these types of reports, perhaps particularly from Krueger who can be over-the-top effusive about longshot players, but Dieter Kurtenbach was on his show and echoed his comments. Kurtenbach is not quite as enthusiastic about some of these unheralded guys, and was an OL once upon a time, so hopefully there's something to what they're seeing.

It is worth noting that the team's moves suggested some faith in Pleasants. They cut Petit-Frere just a few days into OTAs. Even with his struggling, I can't see them making that move before Dillard has played unless they felt pretty good about Burford and Pleasants.

[Jikkle]

Along the lines of the Sorensen-Saleh exchange, not mentioned among the 25-best moves of the offseason:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25203286-ranking-25-best-moves-2025-nfl-offseason

That's absurd. It's such a huge change, and anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Niners should appreciate what a disaster Sorensen was. I'm not saying the defense will now be top-5, but barring significant injury issues, I would be willing to bet they vault into the top half of the league. Given what we saw last year, that would be a dramatic improvement. Way more than any single player is likely to account for.

Think it should've been somewhere on the the list especially given that they have the Seahawks offensive overhaul as the 13th best move in the offseason.

I mean if you're going to put something debatable like that at 13 I don't see why Saleh and the 9ers defensive overhaul can't be somewhere on the list either.

[Jikkle]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/each-nfl-teams-biggest-offseason-loss-49ers-wont-look-same-without-deebo-samuel-chiefs-to-miss-joe-thuney/

Yeah, I think they misspelled Dre Greenlaw.

Anyone who's paid attention to 9ers games the past couple of years should know that Deebo isn't much of a loss. In fact I still stick with it being a positive more than a negative because Shanahan will stop wasting plays handing him off the ball or throwing screens to him and feature guys that can actually beat man coverage by an LB and might actually put effort into every play.

I'm not going to rule out him being extra motivated being on a new team and having a good year with the Commanders when he's not out with injury but if he was still a 9ers I'd expect the same effort out of him as last season.

Deebo has always been a unique player, and he still has some of that ability, but I don't know how much more of it he can sustain physically at this point. If Aiyuk hadn't gone down, I think he would have had a better year. At this point, he can't be the primary weapon. He's too easy to game plan for due to his limitations as a pure receiver. But if he's the second or third option, he is still able to rip off big plays on occasion.

We lost a ton of guys, but really no one who was an impact player last year (granted we sucked while they were out or limited). Banks was downright bad. Ward had a down year dealing with injury and tragedy. Huf and Greenlaw barely played. Hargrave was never really good with us. Losing a healthy Greenlaw is a bigger deal for us than losing Samuel, IMO, but certainly last year Samuel had the most impact of players we lost, and he still wasn't exactly an impact player. You could actually argue that cutting Maliek Collins was the biggest blow given his level of play for us (not great, but good against the pass) given that we don't have proven players to replace him and are really banking on rookies coming through.

There was another guy who rated the Niners as having the second-worst offseason in the league recently. That may be fair given the players they lost, though even then I think it's overstated as noted above, but I think it dramatically understates the significance of going from Sorensen to Saleh. Sorensen was indescribably bad. We couldn't stop anyone down the stretch. We just kept using the same ineffective defensive scheme. It was painful to watch. Saleh will dramatically improve that, and I expect STs to be a lot better, too. I would be really surprised if this team is anywhere near as bad this year as it was last year, though we're still very thin at a lot of spots.

I'd say odds are the defense is better this year than it was last year so I think us having the second worst offseason is just a lazy take from people that only have a surface level knowledge of teams around the league. You've already outlined why and I the only player lost that I consider a blow was Greenlaw and even that's sorta debatable because just how healthy can he stay at this point is a huge question mark.

Offensively I've already said my piece on Deebo but I honestly think the offense at this point is better without him. I do think he has value for other offenses that actually have a more diverse set of weapons and a more dynamic passing attack but in Shanahan's offense right now we're just too top heavy on big bodied possession type guys and we need guys that can actually get open with speed and/or route running.

[Pattersonca65]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/each-nfl-teams-biggest-offseason-loss-49ers-wont-look-same-without-deebo-samuel-chiefs-to-miss-joe-thuney/

Yeah, I think they misspelled Dre Greenlaw.

Anyone who's paid attention to 9ers games the past couple of years should know that Deebo isn't much of a loss. In fact I still stick with it being a positive more than a negative because Shanahan will stop wasting plays handing him off the ball or throwing screens to him and feature guys that can actually beat man coverage by an LB and might actually put effort into every play.

I'm not going to rule out him being extra motivated being on a new team and having a good year with the Commanders when he's not out with injury but if he was still a 9ers I'd expect the same effort out of him as last season.

Deebo has always been a unique player, and he still has some of that ability, but I don't know how much more of it he can sustain physically at this point. If Aiyuk hadn't gone down, I think he would have had a better year. At this point, he can't be the primary weapon. He's too easy to game plan for due to his limitations as a pure receiver. But if he's the second or third option, he is still able to rip off big plays on occasion.

We lost a ton of guys, but really no one who was an impact player last year (granted we sucked while they were out or limited). Banks was downright bad. Ward had a down year dealing with injury and tragedy. Huf and Greenlaw barely played. Hargrave was never really good with us. Losing a healthy Greenlaw is a bigger deal for us than losing Samuel, IMO, but certainly last year Samuel had the most impact of players we lost, and he still wasn't exactly an impact player. You could actually argue that cutting Maliek Collins was the biggest blow given his level of play for us (not great, but good against the pass) given that we don't have proven players to replace him and are really banking on rookies coming through.

There was another guy who rated the Niners as having the second-worst offseason in the league recently. That may be fair given the players they lost, though even then I think it's overstated as noted above, but I think it dramatically understates the significance of going from Sorensen to Saleh. Sorensen was indescribably bad. We couldn't stop anyone down the stretch. We just kept using the same ineffective defensive scheme. It was painful to watch. Saleh will dramatically improve that, and I expect STs to be a lot better, too. I would be really surprised if this team is anywhere near as bad this year as it was last year, though we're still very thin at a lot of spots.

I'd say odds are the defense is better this year than it was last year so I think us having the second worst offseason is just a lazy take from people that only have a surface level knowledge of teams around the league. You've already outlined why and I the only player lost that I consider a blow was Greenlaw and even that's sorta debatable because just how healthy can he stay at this point is a huge question mark.

Offensively I've already said my piece on Deebo but I honestly think the offense at this point is better without him. I do think he has value for other offenses that actually have a more diverse set of weapons and a more dynamic passing attack but in Shanahan's offense right now we're just too top heavy on big bodied possession type guys and we need guys that can actually get open with speed and/or route running.

Deebo got his big contract based on that 2021 Super Bowl production year where he was dynamic out of the backfield on runs and jet sweeps. But since that year, his production out of the backfield has gone down and teams have caught on to it. It just hasn't been productive and Shanahan kept running it so in a sense it was a hinderance to the offense.

[Pattersonca65]

Deebo has always been a unique player, and he still has some of that ability, but I don't know how much more of it he can sustain physically at this point. If Aiyuk hadn't gone down, I think he would have had a better year. At this point, he can't be the primary weapon. He's too easy to game plan for due to his limitations as a pure receiver. But if he's the second or third option, he is still able to rip off big plays on occasion.

We lost a ton of guys, but really no one who was an impact player last year (granted we sucked while they were out or limited). Banks was downright bad. Ward had a down year dealing with injury and tragedy. Huf and Greenlaw barely played. Hargrave was never really good with us. Losing a healthy Greenlaw is a bigger deal for us than losing Samuel, IMO, but certainly last year Samuel had the most impact of players we lost, and he still wasn't exactly an impact player. You could actually argue that cutting Maliek Collins was the biggest blow given his level of play for us (not great, but good against the pass) given that we don't have proven players to replace him and are really banking on rookies coming through.

There was another guy who rated the Niners as having the second-worst offseason in the league recently. That may be fair given the players they lost, though even then I think it's overstated as noted above, but I think it dramatically understates the significance of going from Sorensen to Saleh. Sorensen was indescribably bad. We couldn't stop anyone down the stretch. We just kept using the same ineffective defensive scheme. It was painful to watch. Saleh will dramatically improve that, and I expect STs to be a lot better, too. I would be really surprised if this team is anywhere near as bad this year as it was last year, though we're still very thin at a lot of spots.

I'd say odds are the defense is better this year than it was last year so I think us having the second worst offseason is just a lazy take from people that only have a surface level knowledge of teams around the league. You've already outlined why and I the only player lost that I consider a blow was Greenlaw and even that's sorta debatable because just how healthy can he stay at this point is a huge question mark.

Offensively I've already said my piece on Deebo but I honestly think the offense at this point is better without him. I do think he has value for other offenses that actually have a more diverse set of weapons and a more dynamic passing attack but in Shanahan's offense right now we're just too top heavy on big bodied possession type guys and we need guys that can actually get open with speed and/or route running.

Deebo got his big contract based on that 2021 Super Bowl production year where he was dynamic out of the backfield on runs and jet sweeps. But since that year, his production out of the backfield has gone down and teams have caught on to it. It just hasn't been productive and Shanahan kept running it so in a sense it was a hinderance to the offense.

[clyde21]

rookie Trey Amos is getting a lot of buzz about locking up Deebo in camp, but that probably has more to do w/ Deebo being completely incapable of getting any separation at this point

[CrimsonCrew]

rookie Trey Amos is getting a lot of buzz about locking up Deebo in camp, but that probably has more to do w/ Deebo being completely incapable of getting any separation at this point

I liked Amos as a possible pick in the second round, so not surprised that he's doing well. That said, Deebo was repeatedly locked up by ILBs last year.

[CrimsonCrew]

I'd say odds are the defense is better this year than it was last year so I think us having the second worst offseason is just a lazy take from people that only have a surface level knowledge of teams around the league. You've already outlined why and I the only player lost that I consider a blow was Greenlaw and even that's sorta debatable because just how healthy can he stay at this point is a huge question mark.

Offensively I've already said my piece on Deebo but I honestly think the offense at this point is better without him. I do think he has value for other offenses that actually have a more diverse set of weapons and a more dynamic passing attack but in Shanahan's offense right now we're just too top heavy on big bodied possession type guys and we need guys that can actually get open with speed and/or route running.

I agree re: Deebo. I think Pearsall is already an upgrade overall (if he can stay healthy). Deebo was just too easy to gameplan for last year. He can't beat man coverage. He wasn't making an impact in the run game - maybe this changes in Washington if they do some creative stuff with Daniels. That's to say nothing of the plays where he absolutely dogs it, gumming up the rest of the offense by doing half-hearted motions and clearing routes or doesn't even try to block on run plays.

Ironically, Deebo is one of the losses we may feel least acutely. I think there's a strong argument that we lost the SB because we kept trying to force feed him the ball instead of using Aiyuk and Kittle more (they combined for 11 targets). 11 targets for three receptions and 33 yards. Oh, and three carries for eight yards. That's 14 targets/touches for 41 yards. That's an absurd 2.9 yards per play. Why did we keep throwing it to him??? But Shanahan loves Deebo, and just kept calling his number even when it was increasingly clear he couldn't shoulder the load. Given that we'll now be forced to spread the ball out to other options, I actually think his departure will improve the offense.

I think the losses have been overblown by the national media, but I also don't want to just shrug them off, either. Floyd and Collins weren't great, but they were solid, steady vets who understood their role and did it more often than not. Huf didn't make much impact last year, but there was a marked improvement when he was on the field. And this year we may be without both "starters" for the start of the season. Even off his game, Ward was still a good CB who is almost certainly better than anything else we have. It's a lot to lose, especially on defense. And while I like some of the pieces we've brought in, we're putting a lot of faith in unproven players. That said, I think coaching alone gets us an extra couple wins, and the schedule is so favorable. If things do click, this team could be competitive again. But loads of uncertainty.

[CrimsonCrew]

From Vic Tarfur, who I think has replaced Lombardi at the Athletic:

Left tackle Trent Williams looked Wednesday as if he is healthy and in great shape, and he leads a group that has Colton McKivitz at the other tackle spot, Dominick Puni at right guard and the underrated Jake Brendel at center.

I think I threw up in my mouth a little when I read that Jake Brendel is underrated.

[CrimsonCrew]

A worthwhile mini camp update. Aiyuk is there, jogging a bit, and even doing some scaled down cutting. It's a great sign that he's able to do that almost three months before the season begins. Still assuming he'll start on PUP, but we want him as close to 100% as possible for the playoffs. The sooner he can get back, the better.

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[Pattersonca65]

From Vic Tarfur, who I think has replaced Lombardi at the Athletic:

Left tackle Trent Williams looked Wednesday as if he is healthy and in great shape, and he leads a group that has Colton McKivitz at the other tackle spot, Dominick Puni at right guard and the underrated Jake Brendel at center.

I think I threw up in my mouth a little when I read that Jake Brendel is underrated.

Coach Foerester seems to think Brendel is the best thing since sliced bread.

https://ninerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/niners/2025/06/06/49ers-jake-brendel-chris-foerster-2024-best-season/84072310007/

[CrimsonCrew]

From Vic Tarfur, who I think has replaced Lombardi at the Athletic:

Left tackle Trent Williams looked Wednesday as if he is healthy and in great shape, and he leads a group that has Colton McKivitz at the other tackle spot, Dominick Puni at right guard and the underrated Jake Brendel at center.

I think I threw up in my mouth a little when I read that Jake Brendel is underrated.

Coach Foerester seems to think Brendel is the best thing since sliced bread.

https://ninerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/niners/2025/06/06/49ers-jake-brendel-chris-foerster-2024-best-season/84072310007/

I just can't understand that at all. It wasn't even Brendel's best season. Not close. I have never seen an NFL OL who was so bad at playing against any sort of power whatsoever. Brendel just gets tossed entirely. He ends up on the ground or staring back at what sure appears to be his assignment blowing up the play about 70% of the time. He cannot sustain blocks for more than 1.5 seconds.

If I have time today, I may go through some game highlight videos and give a review of Brendel's play. Word is Brendel improved as the season progressed, so I'll start with later games.

[CrimsonCrew]

I'm back after lunch to eat a little (just a little) crow. I don't have access to full game films, so I'm relying on the official highlights. Those show quite a lot of plays, but they're heavily weighted toward passing and the offensive plays are about 90% positive, exceptions only when there was something particularly bad (INT, sack, fumble, failed conversion).

That said, I reviewed the highlights from the Bears game on, and Brendel was generally pretty good in what I saw. I was doing a very rudimentary scoring (good or bad, great or awful, and then basically not great but didn't impact the play), but he graded well in that. I charted three to five bad plays, depending on how you count them. He missed a handful of blocks, only one or two of which really impacted a play. The one area that arose as a repeated issue was dealing with stunts. He and the OG failed to successfully hand off stunts three or four times, with some pretty negative consequences. Usually it was the guy he started blocking who then shifted toward the guard who was doing the damage, but I'm giving him at least part of the blame for the poor communication and teamwork.

Now, as the center, he was frequently doubling DL. Additionally, none of the teams they played have particularly great interior defensive linemen. But overall he was a lot better than I expect in his pass-blocking. Maybe he was dealing with an injury early in the season. If he can play at that level, I think we're okay, particularly if we can get better play from LG and LT (after Trent went down). That said, I still absolutely want to see him have to earn the spot.