Top 5 49ers Topics Heading into Training Camp
49ers training camp theoretically will start on July 28, assuming they don't have an outbreak of Covid-19 in the locker room between now and then.
So here are the five-biggest 49ers-training-camp topics in ascending order, from No. 5 to No. 1, as determined by my father, Lowell Cohn, and me, during the latest Cohn Zohn podcast.
5. Will there even be a season?
The status of the season still is up in the air.
As things currently stand, Major League Baseball is playing its exhibition season, and real baseball will start this Thursday with a 60-game abbreviated season. It will be a terrific test-case for the NFL.
Can baseball get through 60 games? Can it even get through two weeks? What happens if someone on a team tests positive for Covid? Will the entire league have to shut down temporarily?
The NFL almost certainly will move heaven and earth to have a season -- It's an extremely powerful and rich league. And the players probably will want to play as well. NFL players don't have long careers and typically don't make lots of money.
Whether that's enough for the NFL to have a season -- who knows?
4. Will Raheem Mostert even show up? And if he does, how will the 49ers use him?
49ers ownership has a history of being petty and cheap, and I expect they'll make a point of humiliating their star running back, Raheem Mostert, simply because he requested a raise.
Mostert signed a special-teams contract last year before he was the best running back on the team, and the 49ers probably will make him live with it. So, poor Raheem Mostert probably will tuck his tail between his legs and play and be unhappy. And his teammates, most of whom respect him deeply, probably will like ownership less for their treatment of him.
But the 49ers probably still will screw over Mostert. He needs to hit certain statistical milestones to trigger incentives in his current deal -- 1,000 rushing yards, for example. How can he hit those milestones if Tevin Coleman is the starting running back?
I predict Coleman will remain the starter and Mostert will have to come off the bench, just like last season, so the 49ers can keep his numbers down and pay him less.
Poor Mostert.
3. What will happen to John Lynch? Where in the world is he? And what does he do for a living?
I assume Paraag Marathe negotiates the contracts and has much more juice with Jed York than Lynch does. Probably isn't even close.
Lynch probably doesn't scout, either -- he has no scouting background. He's a former player and a former announcer. He probably relies on the 49ers scouts and coaching staff to assess talent.
So where does Lynch fit in? And more importantly, where is his power base? Remember, the 49ers gave head coach Kyle Shanahan a contract extension, but not Lynch. That's a slap in the face.
The 49ers message seems to be, "You're not all that important to us, John."
But he is important. He's the voice of the team. He's like the White House press secretary. Someone who's the focus of media and fan attention when a serious topic gets discussed, but not someone who makes big decisions.
Still, you need a good press secretary. Do the 49ers know this?
2. Will Jimmy Garoppolo extend his game?
And does he even need to improve his game?
Yes, I believe he does.
To begin with, the defense won't be as good as last season because it lost DeForest Buckner. It will be very good, but not quite as good. And I'm not sure the offense will be as good as last season, either. It doesn't have Emmanuel Sanders, and Deebo Samuel could miss the first month of the season.
Meaning Garoppolo will need to take the lead a little more. Can he take the lead? I'm not saying he can't. It's to be determined.
And I don't know that he can become Joe Montana, but maybe he can become Jeff Garcia.
1. How good will the 49ers be?
Teams that lose the Super Bowl historically have a tough time the following season. Just look at the Rams.
On the other hand, the 49ers have two of the best coaches in the league -- Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh. And the roster still is elite, even without Buckner and Sanders. The 49ers should win at least 12 games and return to the playoffs, maybe even the Super Bowl.
But at some point, Shanahan will have to redeem himself for giving away the Super Bowl last season. The 49ers had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and blew it. This was the second Super Bowl he has blown since 2017. He's like a sprinter who leads a race for 95 meters, then trips and falls and loses.
Shanahan can tell himself he should have won the Super Bowl -- and he should have. But he's still the guy that tripped not once but twice. Can he get over that?
