The 49ers obviously saw this problem coming this off season, they drafted Trenton Robinson from Michigan State in the 6th round of the draft and also grabbed 3 other undrafted rookie safeties in Mark Legree from Appalachian State, Colin Jones from Texas Christian and Michael Thomas from Stanford (where he played under Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio). The addition of these 4 safeties as well as the increased reps that backup safety C.J. Spillman is receiving due to Dashon’s abscence from OTA’s, means that this is not something that is going to shake the 49ers organization to it’s core. I believe this will be a “next man up” scenario for the Niners. This is not a position of a lot of depth for the 49ers but it is a position that has a lot of promise, albeit under the radar. When you enter a season with as much hype and expectations as the 49ers have this season, question marks and hold outs at a particular position are not good for your team. Having the Dashon Goldson conundrum hanging over your head could be just the distraction this team doesn’t need.

I think that it is almost a given that Dashon will sign his $6.2 million tender before the season but at what cost? More than the financial cost there is the distraction caused by however long this hold out will be. Should the 49ers be doing more to get Goldson a long term deal? 6 interceptions and his first Pro Bowl after taking a pay cut to come back to the team in 2011 says yes, they should be paying this man his money already. On the other hand, an NFC Championship game in which he was almost invisible (5 tackles, 1 pass defended) and a more than generous Franchise Tag offer says maybe he should just sign it and worry about long term next year or test the free agent market in 2013. It would be hard to argue that Dashon will get his money one way or the other, some one will pay him and why shouldn’t it be the 49ers? Safety is the one position of concern for this team if you wanted to nit-pick about it. While yes, Goldson did have 6 interceptions last season, the 49ers ranked 16th against the pass and would like to improve that statistic this season with another solid year and some better coverage from their safeties when it comes to the deep ball (they allowed 48 passes of 20 or more yards and 12 passes of 40 or more yards, 5th worst in the NFL). Dashon is definitely a hard hitter, with a pension for causing fumbles and coming up in run support, but that does make him vulnerable when it comes to playaction.

Let’s be honest, Dashon’s good plays are more visible than his bad plays from last season because when he made a bad play most of the time the rest of the defense helped out and saved him. I am not implying in any way that he had more bad than good plays but take a look at some film from that NFC Championship and tell me that Dashon didn’t look lost on a lot of plays and make some bad moves at the ball when he should have just played sound defense and made the tackle and/or batted the ball away. To me, it seemed as if he was trying to make a highlight reel on every play, which is something that he shouldn’t do, just make basic, smart football plays and the whole team will be on a highlight reel, at the White House, giving Barack Obama a jersey and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

So, what should the 49ers do here? Honestly, I say get him to sign the tender and then if you think that C.J. Spillman and the rookies you decide to keep (most likely Robinson and Thomas) can handle the backup role then trade him. There will be a market for him, either for a pick or two or a player. The problem is, if Dashon gets labeled as a head case, or a diva thanks to this hold out, would any team touch him? Or even talk to the Niners about taking him? Probably not. Once a player gets labeled as a problem, most teams won’t touch him, unless you are Cincinnati or Dallas (burn). So even though I think the 49ers would probably be better off without Dashon Goldson given the current circumstances, I imagine he will sign the tender within the next month and then test free agency next year. It’s sad too because after what he did last year I had a lot of respect for Dashon and without him putting up a fuss over this tender, I still would. If he has signed the tender with a promise from the 49ers about negotiating a long term deal during the season, then I don’t think we would even be talking about this. As it stands however, it’s the classic scenario of Dashon thinking the Niners owe him something and the 49ers thinking the opposite. Typically in these situations the team comes out on top unfortunately for Dashon. That’s why he is better off just signing the tender now and take what is (in most people’s opinion) a pretty lucrative contract. Even if it is only for one season.

It starts with the defense. With all 11 starters returning from last years record breaking, dominant defense, the expectations are at an all time high. Vic Fangio and his defensive staff have a difficult task at hand here, how do you exceed what happened with this defense last year? A team that allowed 14 points a game and only allowed 77 rush yards per game last season is a hard thing to top. Those are all time great defensive numbers but as with any team there is always room for improvement, while the 49ers secondary did record 23 interceptions last year, they recorded only two defensive touchdowns during the regular season. Adding to the scoring threat of the defense could be a definite boost for the already dominant 49ers defense. In addition, look for players like Aldon Smith, Larry Grant and Navarro Bowman to make an even bigger impact that the large ones they made last season. Make no mistake, the 49ers defense will be strong this coming season, the point is they are going to need to be just as (if not more) dominant than they were last season.

The second key to the 49ers success in 2012 will most definitely be the continued progression and maturation of Alex Smith at quarterback. Alex had a career year in 2011, which when looking at his previous year’s totals wasn’t that hard but he will need to become more of a leader and game changing quarterback and less of a game manager this year if the 49ers look to take the next step and win championships. Alex took huge strides in 2011, leading the 49ers to two playoff victories while only basically having Vernon Davis to throw to. The addition of Moss and Manningham (or M&M as I’m calling them) should aid in the development of Alex Smith, add to that the fact that this will be Alex’s second year in Coach Jim Harbaugh’s system and you have the makings of a great story and the possibility of a definite improvement all around for a very talented quarterback.

The 49ers health and stability at the running back position is going to also be a major key to the success of this team in 2012. Frank Gore is getting older, there is no denying that. No one can take away that Frank is a phenomenal running back and that he is probably going to put up amazing numbers again this year, but his durability is going to become an issue because of the number of carries he sees and how hard he runs. The 49ers have seemingly bolstered their RB corps with the addition of Brandon Jacobs and the drafting of LeMichael James. Don’t leave out Kendall Hunter either, he gained almost 500 yards and averaged 4.2 yards per rush on just 112 attempts last year. Look for that number to increase significantly as well as Hunter’s role in the offensive game plan every week.

The biggest and most important key to success for the 49ers squad this season will be the hardest one to measure and the hardest one to predict. It is the ability of the players and coaches to mentally handle the weight and pressure of the expectations that are being placed on them. With no one expecting them to do much of anything besides maybe squeak out a division title and get beat in the first round of the playoffs last year, the 49ers were able to prey on people’s low expectations of them to surprise opponents with their tough play and team first attitude. The problem this year will be that the 49ers are not underdogs any more, they will now be favored in games that they weren’t last season. They will be featured on ESPN and talked about on NFL Live every night. How the team as a whole deals with the added pressure and expectations to make a run at the Super Bowl will ultimately determine how they end this season, either hoisting the Lomabrdi Trophy or missing the playoffs like 6 of the last 7 NFC Championship losing teams.

My bet is that the 49ers use the lofty expectations as motivation to achieve even more success in 2012 than they did last season. This is not a team of quitters who crumble at the first sight of adversity, nay they are a team who I believe will thrive and strive on the expectation because in all honesty their goals are as high or higher than those of others scrutinizing them. With a coach like Jim Harbaugh and the amount of raw talent and drive this team has, look for them to band together like a platoon of soldiers going in to a battle that most men would lose, held together by their connection to one another and their desire to win at any cost and to do so despite what history tells them is possible. This team is a team that is built on strength, attitude, execution, the desire to win and most of all, putting the team before yourself. Teams like that don’t fail, they succeed and they achieve their goals collectively, or not at all.

As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment below and follow Niner Noise and me on Twitter! @SFNinerNoise and @BeeDwins54