​The injury gods have not been kind to the San Francisco 49ers. That’s a big concern when their most recognizable skill players are all on the wrong side of 30.Kyle Shanahan’s offense will rely heavily on the contributions of Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel. That’s a lot of star power, but also a tremendous bet against age-related declines. His defense is younger, but that combination of veteran All-Pros and volatile prospects in a group that was soundly below average last season after both Nick Bosa and Fred Warner missed the bulk of 2025 due to injury.The Niners could stay healthy and rise to the top of the NFC West. They could fall to pieces and rise to the top of the 2027 NFL Draft. Let’s take a closer look.Key addition: WR Mike EvansThe Niners are in desperate need for stability in their wideout corps. Who better than the guy who started his career with 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons? While Evans will be 33 before the season starts and played only 22 games the last two seasons due to injury, he remains a daunting physical presence who can haul in passes through traffic and had 24 touchdown catches in 31 games between 2023 and 2024 leading into 2025’s fall-off.If San Francisco gets him at even 80 percent of his prime, it’s a win — a counterbalance to Davante Adams’ late-career wizardry in Los Angeles. There’s reason to believe he may not get to those levels. His average separation per target last fall was a career low 1.9 yards. He had only 12 deep targets in eight games and caught just two of them. He recorded a negative yards after catch over expected (YACOE) for the first time in his career, and it’s unlikely another season of wear and tear on his legs will fix that. Evans can be a stable presence for the 49ers, but we’ll see if he can be a productive one.Key departure: LB Dee WintersWinters had his flaws, but played capably alongside Fred Warner before the perennial All-Pro was lost to injury. Getting to play next to one of the league’s best defenders is a pretty big caveat, but the undersized off-ball linebacker put in work to ensure teams couldn’t simply pick on him when Warner was there. He allowed only 4.8 yards per target in coverage while lined up at linebacker, though his limitations were more apparent when Warner wasn’t there to cover for him.Warner gets a new/old running mate with the return of Dre Greenlaw, who was limited to seven starts with the Denver Broncos last year but was credited for only a single missed tackle in 44 opportunities. If Greenlaw can get back to his 2023 form at age 29, this is an upgrade. If not, Winters could be missed (though dealing him for Osa Odighizuwa was the right decision).Potential 2026 breakout player: WR De’Zhaun StriblingIt was a bit of a surprise to see San Francisco settle on Stribling after trading back to the top of the second round at this year’s draft. The Ole Miss standout was largely considered a third or fourth-round talent thanks to elite speed b