The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2022 NFL Draft following a season where they came just short of Super Bowl LVI. As the No. 6 seed in the NFC, the 49ers first defeated the Dallas Cowboys before upsetting the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field and advancing to the NFC Championship Game. San Francisco shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense while the 49ers were able to come up with just enough juice on offense to pull off the victory.
In the NFC Championship Game, San Francisco faced off against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams and held a 17-7 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The Rams then engineered a comeback, tying the score at 17 apiece before the 49ers went three-and-out, leading to the Rams to kick what ended up being the game-winning field goal. The late-game collapse had echoes of the 2019 postseason, when the San Francisco made it to Super Bowl LIV. The 49ers entered the fourth quarter up 20-10 on the Kansas City Chiefs before giving up 21 unanswered points.
To make matters more interesting, San Francisco faces questions with Jimmy Garoppolo as he enters the final year of his contract. Following the loss to the Rams, head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to “make a statement” on Garoppolo as the team’s No. 3 overall pick quarterback Trey Lance enters his second season. Garoppolo is due $25 million, he’s recovering from shoulder injury and the team has been trying to trade him.
In the 2022 offseason, the 49ers signed CB Charvarius Ward, LB Oren Burks, S George Odum, DT Hassan Ridgeway and WRs Marcus Johnson, Malik Turner and Ray-Ray McCloud. San Francisco also re-signed RB Jeff Wilson, DL Jordan Willis, CB Dontae Johnson and TE Ross Dwelley. Meanwhile, the 49ers saw some players leave as G Laken Tomlinson signed with the New York Jets, DT D.J. Jones agreed to a deal with the Denver Broncos and DL Arden Key went to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team also lost RB Raheem Mostert to the Miami Dolphins.
The 49ers won’t…