The 49ers’ biggest challenge of the upcoming 2018 season

The San Francisco 49ers ended 2017 in exciting fashion with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo lead the 1-10 Niners to five straight wins. They are now one of the most talked about teams in the NFL, but does that become a challenge heading into 2018?

It was Halloween night in 2017. And while everyone was getting ready for their holiday activities, the San Francisco 49ers were preparing for something else.

General manager John Lynch and Co. had just sent a second-round NFL Draft selection to the New England Patriots in exchange for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

The news had broke, and everything changed for the Niners in an instant.

All for a fanbase that had been on a roller coaster of emotions for the last seven years. Seeing one of the most successful runs in franchise history resulting in a Super Bowl appearance only to be capped with 16 total wins since.

But now the 49ers finally had their guy. Finally had the guy to turn it around and bring the 49ers back to the “glory days.”

Right from the beginning, you could see Garoppolo had “it.” He looked like a natural-born leader of men, and showed it on and off the field. He rattled off five straight wins,  turning a 1-10 football team into the hottest team in the NFL.

While it sure is a great thing to be, with it comes a very serious challenge — living up to the potential and newly unexpected pressure that comes along with being one of the most talked about teams.

In a matter of months, San Francisco went from 1-10 to people now asking themselves, “are the 49ers a Super Bowl contender?”

This sure seems like a lot to take in for a quarterback who is now entering his first offseason with the team. Not to mention, that it’s also only the second year of the current coaching regime.

The 49ers are still in a rebuild, it may seem hard to grasp that with the way they finished 2017, but they absolutely are still rebuilding.

San Francisco 49ers

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has himself a young and talented football team that is built for the future. Some holes (like an EDGE pass rush) are still left open and in need of answers if he wants to build a team that can sustain success.

It all starts in 2018 and how they can react to the pressure of strong expectations from, not only themselves, but the fanbase as well.

Garoppolo is 7-0 as a starting quarterback in the NFL. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he and the 49ers will lose football games in 2018.

Being able to rebound from adversity and failure will be a big challenge for the 49ers.

Especially for Garoppolo.

We’ve seen that the bulk of this team can face adveristy and still be competitive. Before Garoppolo came into town they were 1-10, losing their first nine games in a row.

Five of those nine games were lost by a combined 13 points, the first NFL team to achieve that feat. The morale of that story, though, is that the team didn’t quit and kept fighting.

Garoppolo however has never lost as a pro. We don’t know how he will respond. 2018 will be a true test for the 49ers franchise quarterback.

While the 49ers certainly have made moves pointing them in the right direction, they may be a year or two away before we can deem them a true contender.

Next: San Francisco 49ers: Predicting 3 key offensive players’ stats for 2018

The sudden elite level expectations mixed with a young roster and new franchise quarterback may create more of a challenge in 2018 than they are ready for.