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Seemingly every year, experts across the NFL landscape tab the San Francisco 49ers as one of the most talented teams in football. It is therefore no wonder why the team has usually made the playoffs and gotten to four NFC Championship games and two Super Bowls in recent years.
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But the Niners haven’t won the Vince Lombardi Trophy since the 1994 season, and this year, they seem to have some clouds of uncertainty hanging over them. They have been hit hard by the injury bug over the last two years, and there are question marks at multiple position groups.
San Francisco will start its 2026 regular-season schedule with a bang when it faces off against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday. While many publications have the Rams atop their power rankings, they have the Niners listed as merely a middle-of-the-pack squad.
The Ringer
Diante Lee gave the 49ers some love in his write-up, especially on offense, but he has them listed at just No. 15 on his latest power rankings.
“I have every finger crossed that the 49ers get to Week 1 healthy and that this team can contend again. Tight end George Kittle will be back from his torn Achilles early in the season, edge rusher Nick Bosa is working his way back from his torn ACL, and the rest of this team’s most important players should be in uniform to open the season in Australia.
“Last year gave us proof that head coach Kyle Shanahan could construct an unstoppable offense without consistent production from his wide receivers, and now the 49ers have veteran Mike Evans and exciting rookie De’Zhaun Stribling to provide a complementary mix of dependable production and explosive-play potential. Three of San Francisco’s first five opponents have elite secondaries (Los Angeles, Denver, and Seattle), and I can’t wait to watch this team’s passing game get tested early in the year.”
Something here doesn’t seem to line up if Lee is bullish on the Niners’ offense and he didn’t mention any concerns about their defense.
Pro Football Focus
PFF seems a bit more optimistic about the Red and Gold right now. It had the team at No. 11 in its latest power rankings, and it seemed to express a tiny bit of concern about San Francisco’s wide receiver and defensive back rooms.
“Kyle Shanahan assembled arguably his best coaching work yet in 2025, dragging a depleted 49ers team all the way to the divisional round,” wrote Bradley Locker. “Getting back [Fred] Warner and Bosa will certainly be a boon to a defense that was one of the league’s least imposing, while the team’s offense still has stars like Trent Williams, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy. The viability of San Francisco’s updated receiver room as well as its secondary are things to watch in addition to the usual health quotient.”
NFL.com
While the 49ers seem to be pretty healthy, for the most part, going into Thursday’s game, the fact remains that a few of their stars are coming off serious injuries from last season. That was enough for Nick Shook to place them at No. 17.
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“Yet again, the 49ers enter a new campaign with plenty of health issues: Ricky Pearsall’s done for the season; George Kittle is attempting to play in Week 1 after tearing his Achilles eight months ago; Nick Bosa has battled knee tendinitis in his return from last September’s ACL tear; and Mike Evans dealt with ailments throughout August. If any team can overcome injuries, though, it’s the 49ers, who are also testing international game preparation strategies by arriving in Australia well ahead of game day. We’ll see if that pays off against the Rams.”
NBC Sports — Pro Football Talk
Mike Florio has the 49ers at No. 15 in his latest power rankings, but it isn’t because of any injury concerns or roster deficiencies.
“It’s impossible to ignore the collective impact of one weird story after another,” Florio wrote.
Of course, the franchise has been dealing with the recent arrest of owner Jed York, a man posing as a 49ers player in order to defraud people out of massive amounts of money and a conspiracy theory that claims a substation located near its facility is responsible for its many injuries over the last couple of years.
How the Niners can prove the pundits wrong
Perhaps that so-called injury jinx is weakening a bit, at least for now. Bosa, Kittle and Evans seem likely to play on Thursday, and of the team’s starters or rotation players, only edge rushers Mykel Williams and Sam Okuayinonu, running back Isaac Guerendo and wide receivers Christian Kirk and Ricky Pearsall are currently injured.
That is a situation the team should be able to overcome, at least for now.
Last year, despite injuries to Kittle, Bosa, Warner, Williams, quarterback Brock Purdy and others, it went 12-5 and upended the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round of the playoffs. San Francisco displayed its resiliency and resourcefulness, especially during early-season wins over Seattle and the Rams.
Other than staying relatively healthy, it will have to have a couple of its young prospects turn into studs this season. Stribling, a wide receiver it took with the No. 33 pick in April, has the best chance of doing that, but it will also need help at the defensive end spot, as well as in the secondary.
This is an iconic franchise that usually seems to have high standards, as in Super Bowl or bust. But right now, it seems that the team is staying in the moment and looking to just be competitive to start the new NFL season.
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This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 8:21 PM.