The 49ers aren’t a favorite of ESPN’s Football Power Index in part because of their uncertainty under center. That same uncertainty under center plays a role in San Francisco landing in the top 10 of the Pro Football Focus preseason power rankings.
There are plenty of reasons to believe San Francisco can once again find itself among the NFL’s top teams in 2022. They’re coming off a trip to the NFC championship game, they’re returning virtually all of their key players, and new quarterback Trey Lance could potentially elevate their offense to a level it couldn’t reach with Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm.
PFF took a different tact in their preseason rankings though. They ranked the 49ers No. 9 and ran with the assumption Garoppolo will start with Lance as his backup. Via PFF:
