Grading the 49ers For their 2022-23 Season
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The 49ers just finished the 2022-23 season with a 15-5 record and an NFC Championship game appearance. Here are their grades for this season.
QUARTERBACKS: A-PLUS
All things considered, they saved the season. The 49ers spent all year getting Trey Lance prepared to be the starting quarterback just to get him injured running between the tackles in the second game of the season. What a blunder. Fortunately for the 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo stepped in and gave them 11 games of efficient play -- his passer rating was 103. He managed games and protected the football better than ever. But then he got injured too, and the season seemed over. Miraculously, rookie Brock Purdy, the last pick in the draft, replaced Garoppolo and immediately improved the offense. He gave the 49ers eight games of high-level quarterback play -- his quarterback rating was 107 -- before he got hit in the NFC Championship Game and tore the UCL in his elbow and the 49ers' season came to an end. Who knows, if they could protect their quarterbacks, their season still might be alive.
RUNNING BACKS: A
Christian McCaffrey was an expensive midseason addition. The 49ers traded a 2nd, a 3rd and a 4th-round pick for the right to pay him $12 million per season -- quite a price tag for a running back with tred on his tires. But McCaffrey made the move look brilliant. In just 11 games with the 49ers, he gained 1,210 yards from scrimmage and scored 10 touchdowns. If he stays healthy, he'll go down as one of the 49ers' all-time great running backs. Meanwhile, Kyle Juszczyk remains the best fullback in the NFL. Elijah Mitchell had an injury-filled season and Ty Davis-Price didn't make an impact, but undrafted rookie Jordan Mason established himself as an excellent No. 2 running back.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B-MINUS
Ray-Ray McCloud was an outstanding No. 4 receiver/gadget weapon who earned more opportunities than the 49ers gave him. Jauan Jennings was a solid No. 3 wide receiver who picked up a whopping 23 first downs on 35 catches, but also dropped 12.5 percent of his targets, and a couple of those drops were picked off. Brandon Aiyuk had the best season of his career as he gained more than 1,000 receiving yards for the first time. And Deebo Samuel, the catalyst of the offense, had arguably the worst season of his career, as he sat out OTAs and minicamp, battled injuries and never seemed in tip-top shape.
TIGHT ENDS: B
George Kittle scored 11 touchdowns after coming into the season having scored just 20 in his entire career. Finally, he became the red-zone threat he could have been all along had Garoppolo given him more targets in the end zone. Meaning Kittle owes much of his production to Purdy. Still, Kittle had a great season. But after him, the 49ers do not have a quality backup tight end, which is why this group gets a 'B.' And yet, despite all the talent the 49ers have on offense, Kyle Shanahan still put the season in the hands of Tyler Kroft by asking him to block premier edge rusher Haasan Reddick one on one in the NFC Championship Game. Kroft whiffed, Reddick injured Purdy and like that, the season was over. The 49ers need to add a second tight end this offseason.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: C-PLUS
Physically, Williams is the best left tackle in football. One on one, he can dominate even the best edge rushers in the league. But he tips plays, which can hurt the rest of the offense. For example, he often lines up in a pass stance on play-action plays when the rest of the offense is trying to sell the run. He did this on the fateful play-action pass that led to Purdy's elbow injury. Williams knows what he's doing and continues to do it, which is selfish. As a captain, he needs to set a better example. Next to him, Aaron Banks is a solid left guard who has a chance to become special if he stays in shape. The center, Jake Brendel, is solid. But the right side of the offensive line simply isn't good enough. Right guard Spencer Burford is young and promising, but currently weak and inexperienced. And right tackle Mike McGlinchey is serviceable at best. Most of the 49ers quarterback injuries this season came via pressure off the right side of the offensive line. I'm just saying.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: C-PLUS
Nick Bosa is a great player and should win the Defensive Player of the Year Award, but the 49ers didn't give him much help this season, which might be the reason he wore down and recorded just one sack in the final five games. Opposing teams simply didn't have to worry about anyone else on the 49ers defensive line. Arik Armstead had a forgettable year, recording zero sacks in nine regular season games. Javon Kinlaw was injured most of the season, as was Samson Ebukam, who still played, but wasn't a major factor. Neither was rookie Drake Jackson, who was frequently inactive down the stretch of the season. No one other than Bosa had more than 5 sacks. The 49ers need to find a second pass rusher.
LINEBACKERS: A-PLUS
Most teams are lucky if they have one linebacker who's good against both the run and the pass -- the 49ers have three: Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair. They're the best linebacker trio in football. Enough said.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: B-PLUS
Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga was an All Pro in his first season as a starter despite a rough month in which he gave up lots of long touchdowns because he abandoned his assignments. To his credit, he made the adjustment and finished the season strong. Free safety Tashaun Gipson arguably was better than Hufanga, as Gipson intercepted five passes and allowed a passer rating of just 63. Nickelback Jimmie Ward was the 49ers' most consistent defensive back after starting the season injured and getting moved to nickel midseason. Ward is a natural safety, and yet he was excellent at nickel, shutting down some of the best wide receivers in the league. Charvarius Ward validated the 49ers' large offseason investment in him despite a couple rough games against Davante Adams and D.K. Metcalf. Emmanuel Moseley started the season extremely strong before tearing his ACL. His replacement, Deommodore Lenoir, gave up some big plays initially, but improved steadily and made two huge interceptions in the playoffs. This group is underrated.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
Last offseason, the 49ers made it their goal to turn their special teams from a weakness to a strength, and they succeeded. George Odum made the Pro Bowl as a special teams player, and Ray-Ray McCloud was an outstanding punt- and kick-returner. Meanwhile, Robbie Gould and Mitch Wishnowsky were as consistent as ever.
HEAD COACH: B
The 49ers started slow, which is why they were the No. 2 seed and had to play the NFC Championship game on the road. That's on Kyle Shanahan. But for three months, he had the 49ers playing as well as any team in the NFL, which is why they won 12 games in a row. During that streak, the 49ers blew out teams routinely and showed hardly any weaknesses. Shanahan gets credit for all of that, especially considering he went through so many quarterbacks. But ultimately his inability to keep any of his four quarterbacks healthy was the main reason the 49ers fell short of the Super Bowl. If he could have kept just one upright, the 49ers probably still would be alive, but he couldn't. And despite the wonderful 12-game win streak, Shanahan completely botched the NFC Championship Game when he failed to challenge an obvious missed call on the first series of the game, then tried to block the Eagles' best edge rusher with a backup tight end on the second series. Shanahan didn't give his team an opportunity to compete. He has a troubling habit of performing his worst in the biggest games of the season. He's like a good student who bombs the final exam. So while he's a good coach, it's fair to wonder if he ever will be a championship coach or if he's just a high-level loser like Jim Harbaugh. Right now, Shanahan and Harbaugh's resume's look awfully similar.
