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Let’s get bold. 4 bold predictions for the 49ers this season: Perfection, career-highs, and splash trades A perfect division record and a career-high for a 49ers’ newcomer The San Francisco 49ers kick off the 2026 season with a matchup against the Los Angeles in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday. The time for predictions is now. But my favorite type of prediction is the bold one. I get to say outlandish things, and when I am wrong, I can hide behind that “bold” word. It’s always something fun to do. So here are my four bold predictions for the 2026 San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers go 6-0 against the NFC West A third of this shouldn’t be an issue, with the Arizona Cardinals assumed to be looking forward to 2027 and beyond. The other two-thirds is what makes this bold. Last season, the 49ers finished 12-5, a record that would have won every other division in the NFC other than the NFC West. Unfortunately, San Francisco plays in the NFC West, and those 12 wins were only good enough for third place, behind the two teams that met in the NFC Championship Game. And with how both the Rams and Seahawks improved, the competition at the top isn’t going to be any easier in 2026. The 49ers split the season series against the Seahawks and the Rams, winning both the first games against each before falling to both in the latter half, with the Week 18 loss to Seattle giving the Seahawks the NFC West crown. A 6-0 divisional record would obviously be huge for the 49ers, where the margins are so thin in the NFC West. It’s a tough mountain to climb, but anything is possible in divisional matchups. Mike Evans sets a career-high in receptions Quick, without looking it up: what is Mike Evans’ career-high in receptions? When researching for this post, I assumed it was much higher than it actually was. But Evans’ career-high in receptions sits at 96 receptions back in 2016 (on a whopping league-high 173 receptions). Evans has been one of the better receivers in the NFL for the better part of a decade, but he’s somehow never eclipsed the century mark in receptions. That changes in 2026. After a season of a rotating door at wide receiver, the 49ers signed Evans in hopes to give the position some stability. And in terms of overall talent, Evans might just be the best receiver to don the red and gold since the days of Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens. Brock Purdy is a gunslinger, and he certainly has the “I have a receiver down there somewhere” trait, and Evans fits that perfectly. It would be very easy to see Purdy falling in love with his newest target and searching for Evans often. It also helps that there are plenty of question marks for the pass-catchers, with Evans topping the depth chart, with only De’Zhaun Stribling and George Kittle as the only threats to take targets away from Evans. This is also a double-whammy bold prediction, as no 49ers receiver in the Kyle Shanahan era has eclipsed 100 receptions in a season (Christian McCaffrey became the first 49er to eclipse 100 receptions, but he’s a running back). Evans can kill two birds with one stone with a 100-catch season. Jack Jones leads the 49ers in interceptions Outside of Stribling, no 49er impressed quite like Jones. Jones earned his spot on the 49ers’ 53-man roster with his stellar play in the preseason, showing he has a nose for the ball with three pass breakups. He was nearly rewarded with a pick-six against the Raiders but couldn’t quite haul in the interception. But what Jones showed is that he has a nose for the ball, something the 49ers severely lacked in 2025. It took until Week 8 for the 49ers to record their first interception of the season, and because of it, the 49ers tied for 29th with just six interceptions. Jones entered the NFL in 2022 but has recorded eight career interceptions, matching Deommodore Lenoir’s career total with one fewer season, for most interceptions by a cornerback on the 49ers roster. Jones’s three interceptions in 2024 also match Lenoir’s single-season high for the most by a 49er in a season. He’s just as prolific an interceptor as the 49ers’ best corner. The 49ers need a cornerback to force some turnovers at some point. Why can’t it be Jones? Maxx Crosby will be a 49er at some point It’s pretty silly that the Raiders traded Crosby, the trade was voided, and all of a sudden Crosby is happy to be a Raider again. There’s a good chance Crosby gets floated out for a trade once again. Why not the 49ers? There are two paths for the 49ers to go after Crosby, and both are contingent on Nick Bosa. It’s either: - Bosa doesn’t quite recover from his knee injury last season, and the 49ers need to add a pass rusher or - Bosa stays healthy, but the 49ers’ lack of depth on the edges forces the 49ers to make a Christian McCaffrey-esque superstar trade to get over the hump. The 49ers largely ignored the massive need at defensive end, only adding Romello Height via the draft; after the pass rush sans Bosa, they recorded a league-low 20 sacks. That is simply not enough. The addition of Osa Odighizuwa will help on the interior of the line, but with an unknown timeline for Mykel Williams, it’s tough to see the defensive line being effective, even if Bosa stays healthy. Crosby would help both the pass rush and the run defense on the line and would be a huge swing for a team whose defense is lacking. The fit is there; the 49ers just have to make it all work.