The San Francisco 49ers have been anything but mediocre since Kyle Shanahan became their head coach. They’ve existed on opposite ends of the spectrum, either losing 10-plus games or winning as many, depending on Jimmy Garoppolo’s health. But as the 49ers’ season preview suggests, there may not be a hard floor for the team any longer.

Everything You Need Ahead of the San Francisco 49ers’ 2023 NFL Season

The 49ers head into the 2023 NFL season with high expectations. However, they need all of their quarterbacks to get back to 100% health before the season rolls around in September.

San Francisco 49ers Roster Changes

• Players Signed
  • DT Javon Hargrave
  • C Jake Brendel
  • CB Isaiah Oliver
  • QB Sam Darnold
  • EDGE Clelin Ferrell
  • C Jon Feliciano
  • LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
  • TE Ross Dwelley
  • QB Brandon Allen
  • DT T.Y. McGill
  • G Matt Pryor
  • EDGE Austin Bryant
  • EDGE Kerry Hyder
  • CB Myles Hartsfield
  • DT Marlon Davidson
  • TE Troy Fumagalli
  • WR Isaiah Winstead
  • WR Willie Snead IV

• Players Traded For
  • K Zane Gonzalez

• Players Lost
  • OT Daniel Bruskill
  • LB Azeez Al-Shaair
  • TE Tyler Kroft
  • QB Jimmy Garoppolo
  • EDGE Jordan Willis
  • EDGE Charles Omenihu
  • EDGE Samson Ebukam
  • S Jimmie Ward
  • DT Hassan Ridgeway
  • S Tarvarius Moore
  • CB Emmanuel Moseley
  • OT Mike McGlinchey
  • QB Josh Johnson

• Expired Contracts
  • K Robbie Gould
  • DT Maurice Hurst
  • CB Jason Verrett
• Players Cut/Waived
  • WR Tyron Johnson
• Players Drafted
  • Ji’Ayir Brown
  • Jake Moody
  • Cameron Latu
  • Darrell Luter Jr.
  • Robert Beal Jr.
  • Dee Winters
  • Brayden Willis
  • Ronnie Bell
  • Jalen Graham

San Francisco 49ers Coaching Staff in 2023

• Head Coach: Kyle Shanahan
  • Assistant to the Head Coach: Patrick Hagedorn
  • Assistant Head Coach/Running Back: Anthony Lynn
  • Coaching Operations Assistant: Max Molz
• Offensive Coordinator: Vacant
  • Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator: Chris Foerster
  • Assistant Offensive Line: James Cregg
  • Tight Ends: Brian Fleury
  • Assistant Offensive Line: Joe Graves
  • Quarterback: Brian Griese
  • Wide Receiver: Leonard Hankerson
  • Assistant Quarterback: Klay Kubiak
  • Passing Game Specialist: Klint Kubiak
  • Quality Control: Asauni Rufus
  • Quality Control: Deuce Schwartz
  • Running Backs: Robert Turner Jr.
• Defensive Coordinator: Steve Wilks
  • Defensive Backs: Daniel Bullocks
  • Assistant Defensive Backs: Andrew Hayes-Stoker
  • Linebackers: Johnny Holland
  • Defensive Line: Kris Kocurek
  • Passing Game Specialist/Nickels: Nick Sorensen
  • Assistant Defensive Line: Darryl Tapp
  • Quality Control: Jacob Webster
• Special Teams Coordinator: Brian Schneider
  • Assistant Special Teams: Mattew Harper
  • Special Teams Quality Control/Game Management Specialist: August Mangin

Predicting the San Francisco 49ers Depth Chart

Offense

• QB: Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, Sam Darnold
• RB: Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, Tyrion Davis-Price, Jordan Mason, Kyle Juszczyk (FB)
• WR: Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud III, Chris Conley, Danny Gray
• TE: George Kittle, Cameron Latu, Charlie Woerner
• LT: Trent Williams, Matt Pryor
• LG: Aaron Banks
• C: Jake Brendel, Jon Feliciano
• RG: Spencer Burford, Nick Zakelj
• RT: Colton McKivitz, Jaylon Moore

Defense

• DE: Nick Bosa, Drake Jackson, Kerry Hyder, Clelin Ferrell, Robert Beal Jr.
• DT: Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw, Kevin Givens, T.Y. McGill
• LB: Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Oren Burks, Dee Winters, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
• CB: Deommodore Lenoir, Charvarius Ward, Isaiah Oliver, Darrell Luter Jr., Samuel Womack III, Ambry Thomas
• S: Talanoa Hufanga, Tashaun Gipson Jr., Ji’Ayir Brown, George Odum

2022 Results and Standings

The 49ers were outstanding in 2022. After their bye week in Week 9, they seemed unbeatable. Not only were they winning games in the back half of the season, but they were also dominating them. They rattled off 10 consecutive wins and only three of those were by one score or less. They had more wins by more than two scores than wins by fewer than one. Their offense hummed and their defense dominated.

But in true Shanahan fashion, all of his quarterbacks ended up with serious injuries, and they were left to fight against Philadelphia with Josh Johnson. That was proof that Shanahan’s offense and the 49ers’ personnel didn’t make the offense entirely QB-proof.

2023 Power Ranking and Season Outlook

There were five NFL teams in Tier 1 PFN NFL Analyst Dallas Robinson’s latest NFL Power Rankings, and the 49ers were one of them. In fact, they ranked fourth in the league, behind only Philadelphia in the NFC.

According to PFN’s strength of schedule model, the 49ers also have only the 15th-most difficult schedule in the NFL. They also have the easiest schedule inside their own division despite having a first-place schedule. So the 49ers should be at a huge advantage, given their roster dominance and ease of schedule.

But this is also the Niners, and for some reason, they can’t seem to keep quarterbacks healthy, at least when they’re playing well. Having Purdy, Lance, and Darnold all on the roster is a very nice weighted blanket that should help people feel comfortable with their situation.

The defensive performance is the most intriguing part of their season. Losing DeMeco Ryans could make a big difference in defensive performance. However, it’s not as though Wilks isn’t a very good defensive coordinator in his own right. He has also been going through a crash course in the 49ers defense because there are many veterans on the roster and schematic continuity is important.

“You come in here, you make your own secondary,” Shanahan recalled his message to Wilks. “But I want you to learn everything we’ve done here over the past six years.”

The 49ers have played quite a bit of Cover 3 zone coverages over the years, although they change up the way they present it often. Wilks has spent a lot of his coaching career preferring man coverage, and the 49ers will likely implement more of it in 2023.

“I think you have to explore and experiment with everything,” Wilks said. “My background is diverse in zone as well as man, and I think it can change each week based off your opponent and who you are playing. But do I feel like we have the skill set to play more man? Yes.”