The San Francisco 49ers play in arguably the toughest division in the NFL: The NFC West. Over the offseason, the Los Angeles Rams bolstered their defense, adding Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie. Then, once preseason and training camp were over, Aaron Donald announced he’s coming out of retirement.
Moreover, there are the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, who are looking to repeat and haven’t lost any major pieces outside of Kenneth Walker III. As a result, it’s a challenging road for the Niners to try and win the division this 2026 NFL season.
Former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman gave San Francisco a blunt message: They’ll have to be content with fighting for a Wild Card spot, as he doesn’t see the Niners edging either the Rams or Seahawks for the NFC West title.
“The thing [the 49ers] didn’t do that I was concerned about is that interior offensive line,” Sherman said in a Sept. 1 video from “The Richard Sherman Podcast.” “They didn’t strengthen it. You’re about to go against the most dynamic D-lines in the league in LA and Seattle. You’re going to say, ‘Hey, we’ll figure it out as we go?‘ Against Aaron Donald? Against Leonard Williams, against Byron Murphy; that’s what you’re going to go with? That’s the plan?
“The corner depth is a question mark now, and you have no real veteran where you could say, ‘Hey, we just got a solid guy, and they’re going to be searching for that all season.‘ That’s why you can’t put them in the same tier as the Rams and the Seahawks right now. Because of those questions. The Rams and the Seahawks don’t have those kinds of lingering question marks at really pivotal spots.”
Richard Sherman Does Approve of A few 49ers Additions
While Sherman sees major areas of concern for the 49ers, he did spotlight what he did like from the offseason that could put them in the conversation for one of the Wild Card spots, much like last season.
“If the San Francisco 49ers can stay healthy, I think they’ll be in a similar spot as they were last year, fighting against these two juggernauts up top for a chance to go to the Super Bowl,“ Sherman noted. “Then they go out and get Mike Evans. They get De’Zhaun Stribling at the receiver position. They also knew they had to get more depth at the running back position, so they get Kaelon Black and a few other guys who they feel comfortable about.”
Kyle Shanahan on George Kittle Ahead of Week 1
Ahead of the 49ers’ Week 1 game against the Rams, the question will be whether George Kittle can play after suffering a torn Achilles last season in the playoffs. Recently, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to the media about whether they might consider leaving the veteran tight end behind if he’s not ready to go.
“I think if we didn’t think he was going to play, though, and it was looking that way, I think it’d be much nicer to make that decision before we go instead of having to go through all that,“ Shanahan told reporters on Aug. 31.
“It’s also a long time that we’re out there, so to be away from the team for a week, not just for camaraderie or anything, but just the training staff and things like that, and being away from meetings is also a big deal, too. Hopefully, these three days that we have, these three practices, will go the right way and make it an easy decision to get him on the plane.”
Richard Sherman Issues Blunt 49ers Outlook Before Week 1