Jason Ross Looks Back At His Bold 49ers Predictions For 2016
With the 49ers season coming an end and a major off-season overhaul coming soon I thought it would be the right time to look back at a previous blog that included some bold predictions for the 2016 season. The 49ers season was a brutal exercise from start to finish. Some things I saw coming and others not so much. Below were my BOLD predictions for San Francisco this season.
49ers:
1) They will start 3 different starting quarterbacks this year: We know that Blaine Gabbert is the starter. I believe that Colin Kaepernick will get a chance to start and for that matter, I think even a third quarterback will start a game before the 16 games are done.
I did fairly well on this prediction. The 49ers started Gabbert and eventually got to Kaepernick but the 3 QB never got a chance to start. The point of this prediction was that the quarterback situation was a mess and still is. This has to be one of the first things addressed this off-season with the new coach and GM.
2) The 49ers will have the first pick in the 2017 NFL draft and Trent Baalke will not be making the pick: I see this as a very tough year for Chip Kelly and San Francisco. I think they will have the worst record and pick first next season. I think Chip Kelly will survive the down year but Baalke will not.
I was partly correct on this one too. Baalke didn't make it and neither did Chip Kelly. I thought the 49ers would be the worst team this year but the Cleveland Browns proved to be just a bit worse record wise. The 49ers will still have the high pick and must have a great draft because this team is very light on high level talent.
3) The attendance will dip again and fall into the bottom 1/3 of the NFL:
This has been dropping lately and I think you will see more red seats than fans if this season goes as I believe it will
The difference between tickets sold and the actual people attending games is a bit alarming. This started early this season when Dallas came in and the Cowboys fans took over Levi's Stadium. Get a better product and the fans will be back.
I will hold off on the next batch of bold predictions but this off-season is critical for the next round of success in San Francisco. This team has won just 7 games since coach Harbaugh left and they need an influx of talent and leadership fast. The good thing about the NFL is you can turn it around quickly but if you don't fix the talent and leadership the results will repeat themselves.
