The 2015 NFL season is just weeks away, and there’s plenty of intrigue to spare surrounding the San Francisco 49ers as the days tick down. Here are three things we learned about them this offseason:
3) Focus on a more explosive offense
San Francisco has let most of their receiving core go, and they brought former Ravens wideout Torrey Smith in to be their top target. He’ll have some help with Anquan Boldin still in the fold, but the Smith has proven he’s an elite deep threat that has a chance to score every time he touches the ball.
San Francisco also brought in Reggie Bush to be Frank Gore's replacement, who's know with the Indianapolis Colts. Gore rushed for over 1,100 yards last year and was extremely effective, but Bush is a more dynamic runner who can do a lot more than just run between the tackles, which was Gore's forte.
2) The defense will have a MUCH different look
The 49ers will be without Perrish Cox, Chris Culliver, Justin Smith, Chris Borland, Ray McDonald, Dan Skuta and Patrick Willis in 2015. That accounts for seven of the 17 players who were on the field for at least a quarter of the team’s defensive snaps in 2014. For a defense that has finished in the top five in yards allowed and top ten in points allowed over the past five seasons, that's a heck of a lot of upheaval to process for new defensive coordinator Eric Mangini when it comes to even maintaing the status quo, let alone improving upon it.
1) It's Jim Tomsula's time
The end of the Jim Harbaugh era was undoubtedly messy. However, that's no matter to new head coach Jim Tomsula and the guys on roster after a tumultuous offseason by the Bay. 49ers management has made it clear that they expect nothing less than a deep playoff run, regardless of defensive turnover and other mitigating factors. Can Tomsula and his players-first mentality meet expectations? We'll have to wait and see.
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