San Francisco 49ers must begin showing signs of improvement

The San Francisco 49ers were a trendy pick to make noise last season. The only sound they made was the air coming out of a balloon.

In Week 3, Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The injury ended his season. After that, San Francisco was in for a long season. Ultimately, it finished the campaign at a dismal 4-12. With head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch entering their third seasons, it’s time for the 49ers to make a move in the NFC West.

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The San Francisco 49ers were supposedly on their way after the 2017 draft, when they selected Solomon Thomas with the third-overall pick. Afterwards, they landed linebacker Reuben Foster in the back end of the round. The draft was lauded as an emphatic win for Lynch, but it hasn’t panne out that way. Thomas is well on his way to being a bust, while Foster is now on the Washington Redskins after being released in Nov. 2018 for alleged domestic abuse.

Going into this offseason, the San Francisco 49ers are once again positioned well to make some waves. San Francisco is picking second-overall behind the Arizona Cardinals. As a result, they should be able to land a high-impact defender at that spot. Should Nick Bosa go to the Cardinals, the 49ers have a chance to land someone such as edge rusher Josh Allen, cornerback Greedy Williams or defensive tackle Ed Oliver.

In free agency, there’s no reason for Lynch to stand pat. San Francisco is rolling deep with a projected $65.2 million to spend. The 49ers should be targeting a litany of spots, chief among them cornerback, safety, linebacker and wide receiver. San Francisco could also look at Le’Veon Bell. Bell would be an expensive running back, but a perfect fit in Shanahan’s offensive scheme.

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With Garoppolo expected to be 100 percent for the start of the regular season — if not some point in the summer — San Francisco will be a hot candidate to bounce back and again be on the playoff bubble in the NFC. That said, another bad offseason coupled with no on-field success, and the tandem of Lynch and Shanahan will be under serious heat in the Bay Area.

While Garoppolo needs to be given both stability and time, the fact remains that the NFL doesn’t have much patience for failing. If the 49ers aren’t able to find some wins in short order come September and October, there could be the winds of change blowing through Levi’s Stadium, as a once-promising braintrust faces a crisis point.