Just about everything that could go wrong did for the San Francisco 49ers during the 2024-25 campaign. A drama-filled offseason, contract holdouts, injuries and multiple late-game collapses led to a disappointing 6-11 season with the 49ers sitting on the outside of the playoff picture for the first time in two seasons.
Despite their step backward last season, the 49ers still have high hopes for the upcoming campaign. Pro Football Focus recently ranked every team that finished in last place across all eight divisions with their chances of finishing in first place next season. Zoltan Buday of PFF ranked the 49ers No. 1 with the chances of going from worst to first in the NFC West.
Via PFF:
San Francisco endured bad injury luck during the 2024 NFL regular season but should have every chance to get back into the playoffs and win its division in 2025.
If offensive cornerstones Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk can stay healthy, then San Francisco’s offensive output should return to recent years’ levels. Even though quarterback Brock Purdy is expected to take up a significantly larger share of the salary cap and Deebo Samuel may depart via trade, San Francisco still will have more than enough talent to compete for the NFC West title.
Read the full set of PFF’s rankings here.
While the 49ers still have some question marks at different spots on their roster, key pillars like Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are expected to return next season, giving Kyle Shanahan a bounty of talent across key positions. The 49ers will also welcome the addition of a top draft pick from the 2025 class. After finishing 6-11, the 49ers are slated to pick at No. 11 in the upcoming draft.
With the firepower currently on their roster, the 49ers should be right back in the mix in an open NFC West next season.
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