32 in 31: San Francisco 49ers

Another year of 32 in 31. Sports News on Tap takes the month of August and September to preview the National Football League. We spend every day of the month looking at a new team and how they will fare in 2013

Truth be told, I did a crappy job with the NFL previews in terms of getting them out when I said they would be due out. With work and life, I did not make it happen as I was able to last year when I hung out all day depressed about a job I did not get and gaining weight by the minute. We will hopefully be done by Wednesday and from there, we will launch our NFL coverage on Thursday with picks, a podcast and predictions. More picks to come Friday with a Packer preview including our newest feature, the Packer Playlist. On to the Niners.

OFFENSE
People are all over the place with Colin Kaepernick to start the 2013 NFL year. Ron Jaworski is apparently a relative of his, and others tend to worry about the lack of receivers he has this season.  I am on the side of the latter. Kaepernick is incredible in terms of how well he can pass and run the football, but he definitely does not have high quality tools in that offense.  Anquan Boldin and Frank Gore are both great players who have been a valued impact for the last several years although they are 32 and 30 respectively. At some point, their wheels will start wearing down and I think that is more so the concern with Gore moving forward although there is a ton of talent behind him in the depth chart.

Michael Crabtree grew as a player when Kaepernick took over as the top target. He tore his Achilles tendon early on in training camp and some believe him back in Week 12 of the NFL season.  I have no idea if Crabtree can make it back for the 12th week of the NFL season, but it is unrealistic to expect Crabtree to play at his same level when or if he comes back this season. To expect Boldin to fill Crabtree's void is living in a dream world.

Vernon Davis is one of the players to watch this season in my eyes because he became such a non-factor in the Niners offense when Kaepernick took over. Davis flourished playing with Alex Smith whom always seemed to find Davis in space with the clearest example being the 2012 NFL Playoffs. It seemed like the Kaepernick-Davis connection was starting to develop at the end of the playoffs as he had two straight games of 100 yards thus we have a Dr. Jeckell/Mr. Hyde sort of thing going with this duo. Davis can quickly be the guy Crabtree was at least from a pass-catching standpoint.

DEFENSE
The Niners defense is not for the weak of heart. They are one of the best in the business and they did not lose much from last year's dominating defense. Patrick Willis is the leader and probably holds the crown as the best linebacker in the National Football League. Willis missed all of the preseason as he had hand surgery but is expected to be ready for the start of the season. There is no real reason to be concerned with Willis going forward and he also has a lot of help around him at the linebacker position.

Navarro Bowman does not get enough credit because Willis is right next to him, but Bowman would be a starting linebacker in any 3-4, maybe any 4-3 defense in the NFL. Aldon Smith is probably poised for another big year at sacking the quarterback, but he will need to do more. With the zone-read growing, Smith is going to have to play a little more in control without getting burned by quarterbacks running the football on him.

The Niners lost Dashon Goldson to free agency, and they will be trotting out rookie free safety Eric Reid to begin the year. Now I thought Goldson was overrated and just a dirty player honestly given the way he threw his body around so I do not know how much they are losing, but starting a rookie is always a concern at least in the first couple weeks of the season.  I would not sleep on Nnamdi Asomugha either, I just have a weird feeling about him.

SPECIAL TEAMS
They got rid of David Akers for Phil Dawson, the long-time Cleveland Browns kicker so it will be interesting to see him in high-pressured situations. Dawson had only one season in the postseason and that was over 10 years ago. This is something not really being talked about with Dawson and one to keep an eye on.

KEY ADDITIONS
WR Anquan Boldin, CB Nnamdi Asomugha, K Phil Dawson, DE Glenn Dorsey, OG Adam Snyder, QB Colt McCoy - There are a lot of guys in college football who do not translate to the NFL and it blows my mind they were not that good. Glenn Dorsey is one of them to me; I thought he would be great.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS
S Dashon Goldson, QB Alex Smith, NT Issac Sopoaga, TE Delanie Walker, K David Akers, OG Leonard Davis, WR/KR Ted Ginn,

NINERS DRAFT PICKS
S Eric Reid, DE Tank Carradine, TE Vance McDonald, LB Corey Lemonier, WR Quinton Patton, RB Marcus Lattimore, DT Quinton Dial, LB Nick Moody, QB B.J. Daniels, OT Carter Bykowski, CB Marcus Cooper - It is hard not to like the Niners draft here. Lattimore is not playing this season, but he could be the most value in the long-term.

GAME TO WATCH
Sunday December 8th vs. Seattle 3:25 pm - These two teams will probably meet for the NFC West division crown and the Niners get the advantage of playing at home in December unlike last year.  This is the best rivalry in the NFL.  

WIN TOTAL
10-12 - They might be the best team in the NFC with 12 wins. It might be annoying, but I will repeat this again, how good the NFC is this year. I cannot see any team winning more than 12 games in the NFC.

Charlie.