Feb. 26, 2026, 7:45 p.m. PT

The San Francisco 49ers might have fallen short of their ultimate goal in the 2025 season, but that didn’t stop them from receiving mostly good marks in the NFL Players’ Association’s 2026 report cards.

We went through all of the team’s grades and pulled out three key takeaways from the 17 categories. Here’s what we learned:

49ers coaching staff is good

The NFLPA had players grade their strength coaches, position coaches, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and head coach. San Francisco’s group is well liked by the players, with special teams coordinator Brant Boyer receiving a B+ to earn the lowest mark among the coaching staff. All others received an A or A-.

This is impressive given the amount of turnover the 49ers have had in their coaching staff over the years. 2026 will be no different with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh exiting and being replaced by Raheem Morris. Head coach Kyle Shanahan (A-) has done a nice job of building out quality coaching staffs that players seem to like. His ability to continue doing that will play a significant role in the team’s ability to stay competitive in a new Super Bowl window.

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.Injury issues may be at least partially explained

Perhaps it’s the electrical substation causing a bulk of the 49ers’ injury problems. Those issues could possibly be better explained by the grades their training room and training staff received. Both categories were graded at a C-, which means some department in the organization should be spending the offseason dumping as much money as possible into the training staff and training room to get them to a much more satisfactory level. That may not solve all of their injury problems, but it’s hard to imagine a more well-regarded training room and training staff wouldn’t result in at least a little bit better injury situation.

It would be a baffling organizational failure if these grades aren’t dramatically improved in next year’s report card.

Levi’s Stadium’s turf turnaround

Shoutout to the grounds crew at Levi’s Stadium. Their gameday field received an A- in the NFLPA survey. When Levi’s Stadium opened there were issues with the playing surface that some speculated may never be solved. Now the players have given it one of the highest marks among playing fields in the league. Only seven teams graded their home game field at an A- or better. 11 teams graded their home game field at a D or worse. Natural grass forever.

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