By admin 
Go to Steve Young when you want level-headed thoughts on the 49ers. The Hall of Fame quarterback and former ESPN analyst remains as cerebral as they come.
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But when looking at what’s ahead in 2026 for his former team, Young’s analysis wasn’t quite mind-blowing. It fell in line with what the fan base has talked about heading into every season in recent memory.
“It is being healthy,” Young said during a driving range warmup at the American Century Championship near Lake Tahoe earlier this month. “If George (Kittle) is healthy and himself, and Nick (Bosa) is healthy, and Fred (Warner) is healthy. Everyone knows. Watch out if we’re all healthy.
“We just haven’t been. And now we’re older and everyone gets that.”
Health of the 49ers’ stars, of course, will be a focal point when the team opens training camp with its first practice Sunday, with pads expected to come on later next week. Overcoming health issues was the story of last year when San Francisco finished 12-5 — albeit against an extremely favorably schedule outside the NFC West — before losing in the divisional round of the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
And injuries remained a hot topic during the offseason, when a viral conspiracy theory about the electrical substation near the team’s Santa Clara practice facility became a national talking point.
Sunday will offer fans and media their first glimpse at Kittle, Warner, Bosa and others on the practice field while coach Kyle Shanahan gets peppered with questions about their prognoses.
That’s where we’ll start with our five questions for the 49ers as training camp begins.
How healthy are the stars?
Kittle, after tearing his Achilles during a playoff win in Philadelphia in January, was participating in drills at Tight End University in June, and has said his goal is to be available early in the season. He noted during a recent appearance on the “Pardon My Take” podcast that he was clocked at 16 mph on the practice field.
How early Kittle returns is the biggest question, particularly with the 49ers opening the regular season in Melbourne, Australia, requiring an 18-plus hour flight to take on the Rams. The tight end group would be dealing with a significant drop-off without him, though Jake Tonges finished fourth on the team with five touchdown catches last season.
Over on defense Warner is expected to be fully recovered from his broken ankle after reportedly pushing to play late in the postseason had the 49ers reached the Super Bowl.
Bosa is returning from an ACL tear suffered in September, though the team might want to take it slow with the 28-year-old defensive end given it’s his third significant knee injury dating back to high school. Fellow defensive lineman Mykel Williams, a first-round draft pick in 2025, will also be worth keeping an eye on after he tore his ACL in early November.
What will McCaffrey’s workload look like?
Christian McCaffrey led the NFL in touches twice before last season. And in both instances he missed significant time the following years.
After 403 touches in 2019, he appeared in only three games in 2020 season due to ankle, shoulder and thigh/glute injuries. After 339 in 2023 while helping the 49ers reach the Super Bowl, he only played four games in 2024 because of bilateral Achilles tendinitis and later a torn PCL.
Which is why McCaffrey and his workload will be a big talking point throughout training camp. He’s coming off a career-high 413 touches last season. It puts pressure on the rest of the offense to stay healthy to ease its reliance on McCaffrey and spotlighting his potential backups.
The 49ers lost last year’s understudy Brian Robinson Jr. to the Atlanta Falcons and are expecting 2025 draftee Jordan James and recent third-round pick Kaelon Black to compete for time behind McCaffrey, should he ever come off the field.
It’s fair to expect the 49ers to take it easy with McCaffrey throughout camp — which won’t be easy given McCaffrey’s maniacal training habits — with James and Black competing hard for the No. 2 running back job.
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Talented receiver room loaded with question marks
The 49ers receiving corps looks as talented as it has been in under Kyle Shanahan — on paper.
But the group comes with significant questions for its projected top four wideouts heading into camp.
Was last season a blip on the radar for Mike Evans or is father time catching up with the soon-to-be 33-year-old? He appeared in just eight games and tallied 368 yards, both the lowest of his 12-year career.
Will Ricky Pearsall be on the field enough to realize his potential? Knee injuries limited him to nine games last season, and he was a virtual no-show in the playoffs.
Can the 49ers count on rookie De’Zhaun Stribling, a second-round draft pick, to be an impactful player — or will he have a steep learning curve like all first-year receivers do under Shanahan?
Can Christian Kirk be relied upon coming off his two least productive seasons since entering the NFL?
All those questions make the 49ers’ receivers a high-variance group. They could be one of the best in the league if everything goes to plan — or it could be the DeMarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing show if they don’t.
The biggest battle of camp is…?
There’s one clear opening among the 22 projected starters on offense and defense.
It’s left guard — which is hardly the most interesting or fun position to analyze during training camp practices.
Regardless, the 49ers are hoping someone emerges from the group of Connor Colby, Robert Jones, Carver Willis, Brett Toth, Nick Zakelj and Drake Nugent.
It’s hard to handicap the battle as camp begins. Jones started all season in a similar offense for the Dolphins in 2024 before an August neck injury cost him all of 2025. Colby might be in the in-house favorite, but adding Jones and drafting Willis hardly signaled the job is his. Toth has been versatile as a backup with the Eagles while Zakelj and Nugent will be looking to improve after being low on the 49ers’ depth chart the last few years.
What will the defense look like with Morris?
It’s not been made entirely clear what the 49ers’ defensive scheme will look like now that Raheem Morris has replaced Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator. He’s been known for running multiple, diverse schemes and Shanahan said in the spring that Morris would adapt his latest version to fit San Francisco’s personnel.
There’s a good chance the scheme won’t differ much from Saleh’s traditional 4-3 front — with a few wrinkles including playing five players down on the line of scrimmage. That’s where fifth-round draft pick Jaden Dugger could make a case as a strong side linebacker.
Otherwise, Morris might put his stamp on the defense by making changes in the secondary. The 49ers brought in veterans Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones at cornerback to compete with Renardo Green for a starting job.
Veteran safety Ashtyn Davis, a Cal alum, could also push Malik Mustapha, Ji’Ayir Brown and Marques Sigle for playing time.
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