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San Francisco 49ers: 10 Best & Worst Case Scenarios for the 2016 Season

By Peter Panacy

Oct 18, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers free safety Eric Reid (35) jumps up with cornerback Tramaine Brock (26) to break up the pass intended for Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith (89) on the final play during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 25-20. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers free safety Eric Reid (35) jumps up with cornerback Tramaine Brock (26) to break up the pass intended for Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith (89) on the final play during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 25-20. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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August 23, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage during the first quarter between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
August 23, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage during the first quarter between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1: San Francisco’s 2016 Record and Standing

No, the 49ers aren’t suddenly going to become a 12-win team en route to their sixth Super Bowl crown. That won’t happen this year. We’re still a few years away from getting to that point.

But San Francisco could wind up being far better than what the rest of the NFL thinks will happen.

Take a look at some initial power rankings and mock drafts from around the league. The 49ers are slated to pick second in the 2017 NFL Draft in many mocks, just behind the Cleveland Browns, which means this season will be ugly at best.

This would mean, in all likelihood, a three- or four-win season at most. It’s not hard to consider based on San Francisco’s schedule alone. But maybe, just maybe, the 49ers wind up being better than that.

Best-Case Scenario

Aside from a Super Bowl berth and/or a perfect season — which are obviously the best of best-case scenarios — the 49ers wind up flying under the radar for much of the season and, surprisingly, wind up knocking off teams widely perceived as being better than San Francisco.

The offense is clicking, the defense is making plays and, suddenly, the 49ers are playing meaningful games in November and December.

Heck, maybe the 49ers are even competing for a Wild Card berth around Week 14 or so.

Worst-Case Scenario

Draft pundits are right, and the 49ers wind up going through a worse-than sub-.500 season and finish with a mere two-, three- or four-win effort in 2016.

Some blame it on the schedule, but the majority look at the Niners front office on down as the reason why San Francisco has fallen from grace in such a hard fashion.

But hey, at least this would mean another high draft pick, right?

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The reality for most, if not all, of the slides will be each scenario falling somewhere in between the best and worst cases.

Even if the 49ers max out on best-case scenarios in some areas, the team will likely fall well short of reaching others. That’s just how things go at the NFL level, and it’s impossible to accurately predict what will happen over a 16-game season.

Still, the bars have been set on either end of what the Niners will face in 2016. So let’s gear up, bear down and prepare ourselves for a year of intrigue and all the accompanying speculation.

Next: Way-Too Early Look at the 49ers 2017 NFL Draft Plans

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.