How a gruesome injury helped 49ers leader Fred Warner find his purpose (paywall)
“Warner is convinced his durability is a gift from the heavens. And a DEXA body composition scan taken last year helped him understand, revealing that his bones were six times denser than the average human.
“Some guys have a freakish ability to run fast,” he says. “My freakish ability, I guess, is having thick bones to help me stay healthier.”
….This offseason, Warner has been working on taking advantage of one-on-one
pass-rush opportunities against running backs, which he hasn’t been asked to do frequently in the past. Holland hopes that Warner will have many more chances to rush against running backs this season.
Warner believes he will reach a higher level in 2026 by increasing his competitive intensity, which was already near Goku level. He speaks of becoming more of a “maniac on the field” and breaking through age’s barriers.
Thirty, the way he sees it, is an opportunity. So is coming back from injury.”
Rams had eyes on De’Zhaun Stribling before 49ers drafted him
“What’s interesting about this selection is there was some people that wondered if it was too early for De’Zhaun Stribling to go,” Schefter said on NFL Live. “And there were a couple of teams that I spoke to in the draft process, leading up to the draft, that felt that De’Zhaun Stribling was the best wide receiver in the draft.
“Another team, supposedly the Los Angeles Rams, had eyes on him. So, the 49ers didn’t just come up with this pick out of nowhere. They knew that there were other teams that had a very high grade on Stribling when the 49ers declined to trade out the top draft slot in the second round and take him there.”
Steve Young reveals how 49ers can help Brock Purdy reach the next level
“His game is the first couple seconds,” Young said. “Process, get some protection, have some weapons—as good as it gets. To help him thrive—and every quarterback needs lots of help to thrive—we need some people that can get open quickly,” Young said. “Brandon Aiyuk was somebody who got open on the perimeter quickly—and that’s what his game is. Get open, show up, bam, get the ball to him and go.”
“So, Mike, Ricky, they need to be people that can get off the line of scrimmage quickly, get open, get the ball out,” Young added. “That’s when he’s going to be deadly.”
49ers unveil 2026 uniform schedule, including throwbacks and Rivalries look
“The 49ers will wear their red throwbacks twice during the regular season—on the road against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10 and at home against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17. The white throwbacks will make one appearance in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers, while the black Nike Rivalries uniform will debut in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams.”
Explaining the biggest difference between the 2025 and 2026 49ers
“While that’s partially true — Purdy was under pressure on 39% of his dropbacks — he had plenty of time to throw. On average, Purdy had a whopping 4.24 seconds to throw on 33 dropbacks. He only completed 55.6% of his passes because there was nobody to throw the ball to.
I recently rewatched the game. And as someone who appreciates wide receiver play, it was painful. Some of the advanced stats match the eye test. Next Gen Stats has a “catch rate over expected” stat. Across the board, the wideouts were in the negatives. Ricky Pearsall’s numbers seem like they were entered in incorrectly; they were so low. When you’re relying on Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne against an elite secondary, it’s a miracle that the Niners were in this situation to begin with.
The wide receiver play for the 49ers will be night and day, and everybody will reap the benefits.
Safeties crept closer to the line of scrimmage without fear of one of the Niners’ wideouts running past them. That same issue meant opposing defenses could shrink the field and turn their attention to George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey underneath.
The lack of physicality showed up in the running game all too often. Because of that, McCaffrey had to be a magician behind the line of scrimmage. The margin for error in the running game was next to nothing because the receivers didn’t have the necessary passion as blockers.
Mike Evans changes everything. He gives the 49ers a weapon on every down, and a go-to target on third down. It also means Pearsall is no longer the focal point and gets the other team’s CB2. When that was the case last season, Pearsall made mincemeat of lesser corners.”
