The 49ers' Biggest Surprises and Disappointments of 2020

Here's an extremely irresponsible question:

Who are the 49ers' biggest pleasant surprises this season, and who are their biggest disappointments?

It's an irresponsible question because the season isn't over yet -- the 49ers still have seven more games to play, almost half a season. So some of the players I criticize could redeem themselves, and some of the ones I praise could flop.

Still, I like a good list.

So here goes.

THE BIGGEST SURPRISES

1. Richie James. Jr.

He has had only one good game this season -- he has been injured -- but it was one hell of a game. James played like a starter and a big-play threat, someone who could make the 49ers offense much better if the stays healthy and gets playing time. He should be the 49ers' No. 3 receiver Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. I'm intrigued to see what a trio of Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and James can do.

2. Fred Warner.

He was a good player the past couple seasons, but no one realized he would become the 49ers' best defensive player. And that's what he is this season. Next season, he likely will be the highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL and the highest-paid defensive player on the 49ers. If he stays on this pace, he'll be a Hall of Famer. He still is only 23.

3. Brandon Aiyuk

He hasn't been able to display all of his talents, because the 49ers haven't always thrown the ball down the field this season. But when he does get the ball, he always seems to make a defender miss and pick up a big gain. He looks like a future star in the league.

THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

1. Jimmy Garoppolo

When he played, he wasn't particularly good, and he didn't play enough. He injured his ankle twice. Couldn't make it through the second game of the season healthy. Still has started only 32 games in his career -- two full seasons -- and will turn 30 next season. He's the Billy Madison of starting quarterbacks. The 49ers almost certainly will trade Garoppolo this offseason because he's expensive and unreliable and not young. Had they traded him last offseason, they could have signed Tom Brady or drafted Jordan Love. Now, they have to find a quarterback next year.

2. Arik Armstead.

The 49ers kept Armstead instead of DeForest Buckner because Armstead is marginally cheaper, plus the 49ers believed he had more room to improve under defensive line coach Kris Kocurek. They were wrong about the second part. Through nine games, Armstead has just 1.5 sacks. He has the reverted to the player he was before 2019, the player who never had more than 3 sacks in a season until he played with Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and Buckner and was the fourth-best pass rusher on the line. Now Armstead is the first guy opponents scheme to block, and he's not good enough to make an impact. What a shame.

3. Mike McGlinchey

He used to be Big Mike. Now, after training by himself all offseason due to the pandemic, he looks more like Skinny Mike. Seems like his workout regimen didn't work. He's one of the weakest offensive tackles in the NFL. Every game, a defender throws McGlinchey on his back. Someone buy this man a pizza.

4. Javon Kinlaw.

The 49ers traded down one spot to take Kinlaw instead staying at pick No. 13 and taking offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, who's way better than McGlinchey. But the 49ers liked McGlinchey, plus they needed to replace Buckner, one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. So they drafted Kinlaw, who has zero sacks through nine games. In retrospect, drafting Kinlaw to replace Buckner was like buying a Chevy Impala to replace a tank.

5. Dee Ford.

Played one game before shutting himself with a neck/back injury. He may never play again. He's one of the worst acquisitions in franchise history. He played 272 snaps and the 49ers paid him more than $33 million. That's $121,323 per snap.

6. Kwon Alexander.

He played five games with the 49ers and was so ineffective, they traded him just to clear cap space and give his superior backup, Dre Greenlaw, more playing time. Alexander played 674 snaps in two seasons with the 49ers, and they paid him more than $14.6 million. Yikes.

7. George Kittle.

Signed a five-year, $75 million contract extension with an $18 million signing bonus this offseason, then injured his knee in the season opener. He returned and played five more games before breaking his foot while running -- a non-contact injury that effectively ended his season. Now you have to wonder how often he'll be injured in the future and if his foot will break again.

8. Nick Bosa.

Tore his ACL during the second game of the season. This wasn't Bosa's fault -- he was a victim of bad luck and sticky turf in New Jersey. But now he's had two major ACL surgeries and a core-muscle surgery before the age of 23. Like Kittle, you have to wonder how much longer Bosa's body will hold up.

9. Dante Pettis.

Had a couple good days in training camp, then held a press conference to say that he was going to hold another press conference later in the season after he had bounced back just to explain what had happened to him last season when he flopped Then he got one target Week 1, didn't catch it, never got another target, but returned one kickoff, got knocked out, injured his shoulder and got released. What a comeback story.

10. Ahkello Witherspoon.

Got a chance to start Week 2 after Richard Sherman went on Injured Reserve, and Witherspoon immediately injured his hamstring. Had another chance to start Week 5 against the Miami Dolphins, but didn't decide whether he was healthy enough to play until midway through the second quarter when the 49ers defense already had given up 21 points. Since then, Witherspoon has played just 13 snaps on defense and was inactive last week. He is the only cornerback the 49ers have drafted higher than Round 4 since 2011 when they took Chris Culliver. Time to draft another corner.

11. Trent Taylor.

Last season, Kyle Shanahan said Taylor was the 49ers' best receiver in training camp -- even better than George Kittle. This season, Taylor has been the 49ers' worst receiver on the team -- even worse than River Cracraft. Taylor has caught just 10 of 21 targets, and quarterbacks have a passer rating of 39 when throwing to him. They're almost better off throwing the ball away than throwing to Taylor.

I could keep going, but you get the picture.