Implications of the 2016 49ers Season

Football season can’t come soon enough. The schedules have been released, the draft has ended, and OTAs are just about to begin. Fans just have to wait it out. But of course, that doesn’t put the brakes on chatter for what to expect in the fall. Over at the 49ers’ official website, Senior Reporter Taylor Price has been mulling over the implications of the schedule, and it’s going to be an interesting one.

For starters, the Rams’ move back to Los Angeles puts all the NFC West teams actually on the West. It remains to be seen what the athletic performance benefits are (if any) of the Niners no longer needing to travel to a different timezone to take on an intra-division rival. San Francisco’s very first matchup is at home against LA, on the first Monday Night game of the year. The Rams struck a deal with the Titans for the number one pick, and promptly scooped up quarterback Jared Goff. Here’s to hoping that San Francisco’s first-round pick, defensive end DeForest Buckner, can penetrate the line of scrimmage and play a major role in halting LA’s offensive production.

Also of note is the sheer difficulty that is the 49ers’ schedule. It has the toughest of all the clubs in the league, based on the average win percentages of all their upcoming opponents’ performances in the 2015-16 season. In the first three weeks the 49ers face a rejuvenated Rams team, the defending NFC Champs at Carolina, and an elite Seahawks squad on the road. No one promised the road back to the postseason would be a walk in the park, but getting there by defeating the best competition the league would be a good place to start.