Predicting 49ers offensive starting lineup before 2020 NFL Draft

The San Francisco 49ers will make some offensive reinforcements in the 2020 NFL Draft, but Niner Noise offers up predictions how the offense’s starting lineup will look this season.

There aren’t too many starting position up for grabs for the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, but the ones that are should be considered pretty significant.

This is a good thing, of course, as the Niners don’t have a lot of holes on their roster. Aside from re-signing two of their biggest pending free agents, defensive end Arik Armstead and safety Jimmie Ward, most of general manager John Lynch‘s offseason free-agent moves were supplementary and only served to bring aboard some added depth.

As such, San Francisco will look instead to the 2020 NFL Draft to bring aboard any long-term reinforcements with the expectation of providing substantial impact, both this season and beyond.

And with two picks in Round 1, Nos. 13 and 31, Lynch has an excellent opportunity to achieve this right out of the gate.

There are a lot of caveats and X-factors between now and the start of training camp, of course, so it’s all but impossible to 100-percent accurately gauge how the starting lineup will look. But as far as the offense goes, there’s enough evidence to come up with some decent predictions what Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan will want come Week 1.

So, before the NFL Draft kicks off, Niner Noise dishes out some starting-lineup predictions, starting off with the easiest position to address: quarterback.

Quarterback

Jimmy Garoppolo

There isn’t exactly any drama here, as all those Tom Brady-to-San Francisco rumors are put to bed with the eventual Hall of Fame quarterback signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason.

Jimmy Garoppolo‘s first full season as a starter last year was good enough, as his near-4,000-yard campaign ended up being fourth all time among 49ers quarterbacks in a single season.

If anything, the only question at this position entering the draft and training camp will be whether or not Shanahan moves on from backups, Nick Mullens or C.J. Beathard.