Last year's offseason hype surrounding the San Francisco 49ers has turned into pressure this offseason. There is significant pressure for the team to finally turn a corner. Injuries dashed last season's high hopes, including the torn ACL suffered by starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
The result was a four-win campaign that left many fans looking toward 2019 by October.
The pressure for the current regime to win has never been higher. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch were given a pass during year one because of the massive roster overhaul that they were undertaking. Winning each of their five final games that season heightened the expectations for 2018.
The duo was given yet another pass last year because of Garoppolo's injury, among several others. A lot of that season was dependent on the quarterback's success following his first offseason with Shanahan.
The team should be relatively healthy as it kicks off the upcoming season. I say relatively because several players, including Garoppolo, are coming off of ACL injuries. Others include running back Jerick McKinnon and new linebacker Kwon Alexander. Assuming Garoppolo made a full recovery and is close to 100 percent on the field, fans expect this team to find success.
Garoppolo recently spoke with Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News and discussed the team's sense of urgency heading into the 2019 season.
"In a perfect world, this offense will keep getting better and keep going upward," Garoppolo said. "As a football player, you're always trying to be perfect. It may not be realistic or possible, but that's the goal. We have a good group of guys who all have that mentality. We trust the results will come.
"Whatever the level of hype going on outside the building, we are going to put more pressure on ourselves than anyone else. As long as we go out there, put the work in, put the time in and continually grind, good things will happen. We just have to go out there and prove it."
The 49ers worked hard this offseason to surround Garoppolo with more weapons. The team used two draft picks on wide receivers — Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd. San Francisco's decision-makers also unexpectedly added to the running back group with the free agent signing of Tevin Coleman.
Do those upgrades on offense boost Garoppolo's desire to get back on the football field?
"The motivation to get back on the field, it's always been there, because I haven't been used to not being on the field," Garoppolo told Iyer. "Then seeing the guys who came in, the free agents we signed, the rookies we drafted, things started to come together, piece by piece.
"Exciting is a good word for it, but also anxious to get back out there and go to work with them."
Garoppolo recently discussed with Pro Football Talk what encourages him to become one of the best at his position and it has nothing to do with what is coming from the outside the building or his massive $137.5 million contract.
"It's more I put pressure on myself to perform at a high level, regardless of the situation," Garoppolo said. "I don't know. It's kind of something I was born with or whatever you want to call it. It's the competitor in you. You want to go out there and perform at a high level. That's why we put in all this time, to be honest. You have to. You can't just throw the helmet out there and expect to get a W. You've got to earn it. That's one of the great things about this league is nothing is given. You've got to earn everything you get."
