SF 49ers: 5 moves John Lynch can make to help salvage 2020
By Peter Panacy
2020 is proving to be unkind to the SF 49ers, particularly with injuries. Yet John Lynch could make these five moves to help salvage the season.
Yes, it’s going to be difficult for the SF 49ers to make the postseason a year after narrowly falling short in Super Bowl LIV.
If 2020 wasn’t bad enough, the football gods appear to have cursed the Niners early this year, too, prematurely ending the seasons of defensive linemen Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa, who both suffered torn ACLs in San Francisco’s Week 2 win over the New York Jets.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the SF 49ers are projected to be without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle) and running back Raheem Mostert (knee) for the immediate future as they recover from injuries suffered in Week 2.
Brutal.
Additionally, the Niners are still shorthanded within their secondary, with cornerback Richard Sherman (calf) still on short-term injured reserve, while tight end George Kittle is nursing a knee injury.
Sherman, Kittle, Garoppolo and Mostert are all expected back at varying points later this season. But San Francisco, now facing all three other teams in the NFC West boasting undefeated records after two weeks, is looking at trying to navigate a lengthy period of time while trying to remain in contention.
As such, general manager John Lynch can still play a few vital cards, whether they come via the trade market, a smallish pool of still-available free agents or by looking at some of the team’s on-roster options.
While making the postseason just got a lot more difficult, Lynch and the 49ers’ prospects for getting into the playoffs are far from impossible.
Especially if Lynch is able to execute a few of these five suggested moves.