tell me about the 49ers

[SL__72]

Passing game: Alex Smith has another year of experience and their receiving core looks a lot better with the additions of Darrell Jackson, Ashley Lelie and a healthy Vernon Davis. The addition of Joe Staley should improve their pass blocking, even if he only has an average rookie year as Kwame Harris looked really bad last year.

Running game: Theoretically Larry Allen's performance should start to fall off eventually, but he looked as good as ever last year. It seemed like they were always running behind him last year whether it was directly behind him or as he pulled to lead the run. Again Staley should be an improvement over Harris so I would expect improved results overall. If their passing game does improve and he stays healthy, I think Gore could have an "MVP" type season (as it is voted anyway).

Defensive line: Bryant Young is starting to age but they also picked up a couple of linemen in the draft and through free agency. Their DL should be similar to last year.

Linebackers: Manny Lawson is coming back after a encouraging rookie season and they made two big additions, Patrick Willis in the draft and Tully Banta-Cain through free agency. Their LB core should definitely be better then last year.

Secondary: They spent a ton of money to improve their secondary in free agency and whether or not their decisions were good ones, they did just that. Nate Clements should help a lot and while I think they significantly overpaid for him, Michael Lewis should be an improvement over Keith Lewis.

For most people, the big question is how the loss of Norv Turner will affect the play of Alex Smith, but I think the decision to promote their QB coach who has worked with Smith the last two years should help minimize any negative effects.

I think their biggest problem is their depth. Their ability to stay healthy will likely play a big role in any success they see next year. I think they look like a 9-7 team right now.

Disclaimer: I only watched 2 or 3 of their games last year.