San Francisco 49ers: Creating the ideal starting lineup for 2018
By Peter Panacy
With both free agency and the NFL Draft looming, the San Francisco 49ers are going to be looking to put the best starting lineup on the field in 2018. Let’s do it for them.
The 2017 San Francisco 49ers were a slew of question marks and “let’s see” players at the beginning in Week 1 a year ago.
General manager John Lynch had largely cleaned house, parting ways with numerous holdovers from the previous regime, and the Niners would go on to start more rookies than any other team in the league last year.
It wasn’t all good, though.
San Francisco 49ers
Quarterback play was an issue from the onset until Jimmy Garoppolo took over duties after his trade from the New England Patriots. The defense, under first-year coordinator Robert Saleh, ranked 25th in points allowed (383) and gave up nearly 24 points per game.
Needless to say, Lynch and Co. have some work to do this offseason.
Putting together the ideal starting lineup in 2018 won’t be easy. Fortunately, the team owns the No. 9 pick in the NFL Draft, as well as nearly $69 million in available cap space.
Thankfully, the franchise can look to Niner Noise for some help. We were nice enough to create the ideal starting lineup for San Francisco this upcoming season.
From a realistic vantage point, of course. No, the Niners aren’t going to be trading for All-Pro-type contributors like linebacker Luke Kuechly or wide receiver Julio Jones. But there are some moves to be made.
Taking those into account, here is our initial setup for an ideal starting lineup. We’ll combine on-roster players, as well as both NFL Draft picks and free agents on the team’s (hopeful) radar.
Let’s jump this thing with special teams.