The 49ers will not win more than 10 games during the 2025 NFL season – at least according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
“There’s no Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk ain’t coming back until a little bit later on in the season,” Smith said Wednesday on “First Take” as the crew discussed the likelihood of San Francisco cracking 11 wins.
The main reason Smith was adamant that the 49ers wouldn’t win more than 10 games was the injury concerns to some of the team’s position players.
“Durability is an issue, I know this and as a result of that I’m not going with 10,” Smith said. “They might win 10, but I see a 9-8 or a 10-7 record, I don’t see them winning more than that.”
Smith also mentions the team’s star running back Christian McCaffrey’s health as one of the biggest question marks heading into the 2025 season.
“I love CMC, that’s my man right there, love him to death, but his durability is still a question mark,” Smith said. “He’s looked 100 percent in practice and during the preseason, we get all of that, but there’s a reason they went and got Brian Robinson Jr. from Washington because they recognize the fact that you can’t necessarily rely on Christian McCaffrey, who’s missed at least 10 games over the last three consecutive seasons.”
While McCaffrey did in fact miss 13 games during the 2024 campaign due to bilateral Achilles tendinitis and then later a knee injury, the star running back was on the field for 16 games in 2023 and all 17 in 2022, so Smith’s reasoning might be a bit flawed.
The 49ers will rely on McCaffrey heavily this season and if Trent Williams’ assessment of the star running back is accurate, he could be in for a big year. That could bode well for the 49ers – and an 11-plus-win season.
If the 49ers needed any more bulletin board material, Smith definitely gave it to them.
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