If you were a betting human, you’d be profitable if you followed ESPN’s Bill Barnwell’s annual column, where he writes about teams most likely to improve. Barnwell is batting 31 for 38 with an average jump of 3.4 wins per 17 games. That’s impressive.

The San Francisco 49ers were the most popular “worst-to-first” team this offseason. That was before training camp began, and seemingly an injury a day decimated the Niners’ depth chart. The good news is that only defensive tackle Kevin Givens’s injury is believed to be severe.

So why does Barnwell believe the Niners will take a step forward this season? Mainly because this was a team that was unlucky in 2024:

While I don’t think anybody could argue the 49ers were disappointing, here’s where I come in to say that they also were quite a bit u

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