{"id":740265,"date":"2026-02-09T12:58:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T12:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/740265\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T12:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T12:58:26","slug":"where-the-49ers-landed-in-espns-post-super-bowl-power-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/740265\/","title":{"rendered":"Where the 49ers landed in ESPN&#8217;s post-Super Bowl power rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 NFL season is officially complete after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 at Levi&#8217;s Stadium. With Super Bowl LX in the books, attention has already shifted toward 2026\u2014and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47807175\/nfl-way-too-early-power-rankings-poll-2026-offseason-three-words\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN wasted no time releasing its early NFL power rankings for next season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, the Super Bowl champion Seahawks claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by the runner-up Patriots. The San Francisco 49ers checked in at No. 6, trailing the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, and Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN&#8217;s Nick Wagoner pointed to a season that, in many ways, exceeded expectations for head coach Kyle Shanahan&#8217;s team despite the adversity it faced.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The 49ers exceeded expectations by finishing 12-5 and winning a road playoff game after a massive roster overhaul and a series of devastating injuries,&#8221; Wagoner wrote. &#8220;Given how 2025 went, it&#8217;s time for them to go hunting for more star power.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the strong finish, questions remain about the roster&#8217;s long-term outlook. The 49ers&#8217; core is aging, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BosaNi00.htm\" data-playername=\"Nick Bosa\" title=\"Nick Bosa stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Nick Bosa<\/a> entering his eighth NFL season, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WarnFr00.htm\" data-playername=\"Fred Warner\" title=\"Fred Warner stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fred Warner<\/a> his ninth, and both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/K\/KittGe00.htm\" data-playername=\"George Kittle\" title=\"George Kittle stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">George Kittle<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/McCaCh01.htm\" data-playername=\"Christian McCaffrey\" title=\"Christian McCaffrey stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Christian McCaffrey<\/a> entering their 10th. Bosa, Warner, and Kittle are also working their way back from injuries, adding another layer of uncertainty heading into 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Wagoner noted that quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PurdBr00.htm\" data-playername=\"Brock Purdy\" title=\"Brock Purdy stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Brock Purdy<\/a> and cornerback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LenoDe00.htm\" data-playername=\"Deommodore Lenoir\" title=\"Deommodore Lenoir stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Deommodore Lenoir<\/a> have emerged as foundational pieces for the next era in San Francisco. Now, the team just needs to add to that younger core.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Only quarterback Brock Purdy and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir have established themselves as part of the next foundation, which means it&#8217;s on the Niners to find more &#8212; whether by draft, trade, or signing &#8212; to sustain success,&#8221; Wagoner added. &#8220;The pass rush and receiver groups, in particular, need significant attention.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco proved that it can remain competitive amid adversity, but closing the gap on teams like Seattle will require roster upgrades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 NFL season is officially complete after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2644,4124,4822,7,592,6066,2812,6,1515,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":["post-740265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-49ers","tag-49ers","tag-brock-purdy","tag-christian-mccaffrey","tag-deommodore-lenoir","tag-football","tag-fred-warner","tag-george-kittle","tag-kyle-shanahan","tag-nfl","tag-nick-bosa","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfrancisco49ers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116040794494994175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}