Everyone these days is making bold predictions.
So with the NFL season getting underway and the 49ers’ 2025 opener on Sunday, let’s do brash predictions instead. (And yes, those are two totally different things…)
The rules: If any of these are right, I’m a football genius and should be revered as such. I expect a parade. And if any are wrong, well, they were outlandish predictions — they’re not supposed to be taken seriously.
Got it? Great. Let’s get after it:
1. Ricky Pearsall joins the illustrious 1,200-yard club
The 1,200-yard club for 49ers receivers is an exclusive one. We’re talking Jerry (10 times), T.O. (three times), Dave Parks, and then the modern guys: Aiyuk, Deebo, Kittle. That’s the list.
Go ahead and add Ricky Pearsall’s name to it.
The second-year wideout from Florida isn’t just the Niners’ only truly viable passing option for the first chunk of the season; he’s the perfect receiver for this iteration of Kyle Shanahan’s offense. He can beat press-man coverage at the line, but also move around the formation. Give him a bit of cushion, and he’ll terrorize the middle of the field — not just with his hands, but with his legs after the catch.
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And let’s be honest: This Niners defense is going to be… porous. That means shootouts. That means San Francisco will be chasing points more than they’re used to.
It all adds up to a boatload of targets for Pearsall, a guy who already has that unmistakable, unspoken chemistry with Brock Purdy and whose reputation hasn’t caught up to his talent yet. Defenses will bracket Kittle. They’ll learn about Pearsall the hard way.
Book it: 120 targets, 90 catches, 1,200 yards, and a whole lot of fantasy championships won.
2. Brock Purdy breaks the Niners’ passing record… again
Yes, it’s his own record, but this goes hand-in-hand with the Pearsall prediction, folks. It’s simple math.
This team has to throw the ball to win in 2025. Purdy has the complete, unshakeable trust of his coach and play-caller. While the receiving corps looks thin right now, it will round into a solid form.
You know Kittle is good for his 1,000 yards. We just established that Pearsall is getting his 1,200. And Demarcus Robinson, who has real chemistry with Purdy from, you know, actually practicing in training camp, can easily be an 800-yard guy in this system upon return.
That’s 3,000 yards between three players. So where do the other 1,300-plus come from?
Jauan Jennings is playing for a big-money contract with another team and it’s a slouch. Brandon Aiyuk, a 1,300-yard receiver himself, should be back for at least half the season. And the rookie Jordan Watkins looks like he’s ahead of schedule. Oh, and some guy named Christian McCaffrey is pretty decent out of the backfield, too.
Combine all that firepower with game scripts that force the Niners to air it out, and you have the recipe for a monster — dare I say MVP-caliber? — season for No. 13. He’ll clear 4,300 yards.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Mykel Williams (98) takes part in a practice on Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
3. Rookie Mykel Williams will be PFF’s top-rated 49ers d-lineman
Look, you should take Pro Football Focus grades with a whole shaker of salt. But in this case, their formula is tailor-made to reward what Williams is going to do this season.
I expect the rookie to be an elite run-stopper on early downs and then kick inside to be a disruptive pass-rusher on third downs. A player who executes those two specific, high-leverage tasks at a high level is a PFF-grade darling. It’s just how their nonsense works.
Is Williams going to be the Niners’ best defensive lineman? No. That’s Nick Bosa, and it’s not a conversation. But Bosa is going to be asked to do everything, constantly putting out fires and finding himself in unflattering situations by necessity.
Williams, the rookie, will be put in positions to succeed. He’ll keep it simple, ace the test week after week, and the spreadsheet will love him for it.
4. Renardo Green becomes an All-Pro-caliber corner
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Renardo Green (0) knocks the ball away from Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Zay Jones (17) during the first half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Notice the wording here: “All-Pro-caliber.” He won’t make that team. He might make the Pro Bowl, but Mac Jones is a Pro Bowl quarterback, so what does that even mean anymore?
Green is going to be outstanding in year two. He’s going to lock down one side of the field so completely that you’ll barely notice him. Why? Because quarterbacks are going to stop throwing his way.
The problem? Teams will find other ways to attack. They’ll run it up the gut on the Niners’ questionable interior, and they’ll test the maverick, Deommodore Lenoir, on the other side.
Lenoir might get the flashy interception numbers. But the tape-grinders and the ball knowers will see that Green is the true No. 1 on this defense.
5. The Niners will double their use of 12 personnel
The 49ers are synonymous with 21 personnel (2 backs, 1 TE). Sean McVay’s Rams are the poster child for 11 personnel (1 back, 1 TE).
But if there’s one thing we know about Shanahan, it’s that he’s not above stealing a good idea from his buddy Sean McVay. He’s kind of made it a thing. And last season, the Rams did something interesting that the Niners are about to copy.
Defensive coordinators have figured out that if you load the line of scrimmage with five or six defenders, you can muck up outside zone runs — the bread and butter for every Shanahan/McVay-type offense.
It was becoming a problem for the duo.
McVay did something about it.
In 2023, the Rams were dead last in using 12 personnel (1 back, 2 TEs). In 2024, they nearly tripled their usage. It was still a low number league-wide, but the trend is what matters. McVay realized you have to fight numbers with numbers — width with width.
Shanahan sees the same thing. He’s not even pretending it isn’t coming. Why else would the Niners, in a firesale offseason, give $11 million guaranteed to tight end Luke Ferrell? That’s a down payment on a schematic shift.
Last season, the Niners ran 140 plays with two true tight ends. This year, expect that number to push 300, putting them around the top 10 in the league. And because of it, their outside zone runs will be back on the call sheet.
6. A playoff berth will be on the line in Week 18, and they’ll lose
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Let me paint the picture: It’s the final game of the season. The Niners and Seahawks both sit at 9-7. NBC flexes the game to Sunday Night Football. The winner takes the NFC West and the division’s only playoff spot.
I’m getting 2019 flashbacks just thinking about it.
The Niners will host. They’ll wear those god-awful, illegible-at-night black uniforms. And they’ll lose a heartbreaker that goes down to the wire.
The loss will be infuriating in the moment. But a few days later, once the rivalry venom subsides, the organization — and the fans — will feel damn good about where this team is headed.
Because 2025 was never about the Super Bowl. It was always about setting the table for 2026. And when the dust settles on the season, the foundation for future success — Purdy, Pearsall, Green, Williams — will be set in stone. This is the year the Niners lose the battle but position themselves to win the war.