Did the 49ers do enough this offseason to get over the hump?

Walking through the offseason that was in this week’s Reacts Survey.

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It’s been a while since we’ve had an offseason involving the San Francisco 49ers without a shred of quarterback controversy. Even last year, when it was expected that Brock Purdy would resume as the starter when he returned from his UCL surgery, there were debates about who could hold down the fort better between Sam Darnold and Trey Lance.

The tune is different this offseason. It’s Brock’s job. Still, we knew there would be unexpected moves and roster turnover. That’s how the NFL works. Sure enough, team captain Arik Armstead was released after refusing to take a pay cut.

That meant the 49ers would need to shift their focus to free agency to replace their versatile defensive lineman. The 49ers were never going to replace Armstead in a 1-for-1 move. They chose to go the quantity at defensive tackle by trading for Maliek Collins of the Houston Texans, signing Jordan Elliott from the Cleveland Browns, and rolling the dice on Yetur Gross-Matos from the Carolina Panthers. Those snaps will also go to Javon Kinlaw, who joined Robert Saleh and the New York Jets.

Nick Bosa is still a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Javon Hargrave was among the best interior rushers in the NFL last season. The 49ers hope those two will do the heavy lifting while the rotational players above stay healthy and the other signing along the defensive line, Leonard Floyd, keeps up his knack for sacks.

The 49ers finished 15th in defensive success rate during the regular season last year. That can’t happen when you have as much talent on this side of the ball as they do. They were in the bottom tier in rushing EPA, and success rate allowed.

Part of that can be pointed to Armstead’s inability to stay healthy. San Francisco’s numbers ballooned after Armstead went down after the Eagles game. However, the 49ers suffered an injury in the Super Bowl that could affect them well into the start of 2024.

Linebacker Dre Greenlaw suffered a torn Achilles in the Super Bowl. Greenlaw is the heartbeat of the defense. The Kansas City Chiefs could not move the ball when 57 was on the field. We saw the difference when Dre left the field.

For my money, Greenlaw deserved to be an All-Pro last season. You don’t replace what Greenlaw means to the 49ers. In 2023, Greenlaw had more tackles for loss than missed tackles. He was also tied for fifth among all linebackers in holding penalties drawn. The cherry on top is that Greenlaw made plays at the line of scrimmage against the run. He was in the top ten, tied with Fred Warner, in average tackle depth—and that’s before you get to Greenlaw’s impressive coverage numbers.

His replacement is De’Vondre Campbell. He was taken off the field on passing downs for the Green Bay Packers last year. As a run defender, Campbell’s average tackle depth was twice as high as Greenlaw’s. Campbell was only targeted 17 times last year, but he allowed 13 completions for 12 yards per target.

Something to keep an eye on is whether defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen uses more “dime” personnel than his predecessor to get the best 11 players on the field.

If Campbell struggles in coverage, Talanoa Hufanga could play that dime linebacker position, and you could have Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown as your safeties. There’s always the option of having an additional cornerback on the field. The 49ers have flexibility in Renardo Green and Deommodore Lenoir. I’d expect plenty of different personnel to see the field during the first month of the season as Sorensen learns on the fly.

The offense remains largely unchanged. Dominick Puni will compete for a starting spot along the offensive line. Ricky Pearsall figures to eat into Jauan Jennings’ snap counts. One of the bigger training camp battles will be who wins the TE2 job.

Brock Purdy and the weapons that helped lead a historic offense return. Keeping up with last year’s pace seems impossible. San Francisco can step down a notch or two offensively and still be in a class by themselves. That’s how rare their offensive output was in 2023. So, there wasn’t much to do on this side of the ball.

After everything the team sought to do this offseason, and now that we see how their plans unfolded, did the 49ers do enough to get over the hump?