49ers' Wide Receiver Room is the Reason for their Power Rankings Drop

A lot of lateral moves.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers' offseason was considered an all-in attempt to win a Super Bowl with the supporting cast that they currently have. However, they dropped two spots in the recent ESPN power rankings when reviewing every team's offseason. They were sixth in the previous ranking and now they are eighth. 

San Francisco 49ers additions deemed not enough in recent power rankings 

They passed the Detroit Lions in the recent rankings, but the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Buffalo Bills all jumped the 49ers after the offseasons they had. 

The most surprising team to leap the 49ers is Green Bay. The reasoning is that their cornerback room is better, but the biggest move they made is letting Nate Hobbs go and drafting Brandon Cisse in round 2. Perhaps Hobbs is that bad, but Cisse is a rookie, and there are questions around how quickly he can adjust to the NFL. 

The Philadelphia Eagles might look better on paper right now, but they are also potentially a few weeks away from trading AJ Brown. If that is the case, the 49ers could jump them just as quickly. The Buffalo Bills make sense considering they had a solid offseason, they have Josh Allen, and in the AFC, they are considered a favorite. The good news for San Francisco is that they do not play in the AFC. In the NFC, those two jumped them, and the two NFC West foes are ahead of them. So, they are fifth in their own conference. 

The biggest reason for improvement for the 49ers was the wide receiver. The team did add Mike Evans, De’Zhaun Stribling, and Christian Kirk. If Ricky Pearsall can get healthy, they have a stronger group. 

However, the reason they fell two spots and did not rise is that the analysts are not buying the improvements. Kirk struggled with a bad Houston wide receiver corps, and Evans missed a lot of time last year due to injury. His age and veteran status have teams concerned, while the lack of experience and potential reach in the draft of Stribling has them concerned. 

So, the room is different on paper, but the real question is how upgraded it would be. If the 49ers can get Evans, and Pearsall healthy and Stribling looks ahead of schedule, they should be higher than eighth. However, until that group proves anything the skepticism is fair.