Scratch San Francisco 49ers kicker Robbie Gould from your thoughts for a moment — we’ll get to him shortly.
Instead, let’s center on the rest of the Niners’ special team’s unit from a year ago and focus on how this crop will improve entering 2019.
Last year, Pro Football Focus ranked San Francisco’s special teams a lowly 27th overall on the season. Football Outsiders‘ DVOA metric placed the 49ers slightly better, coming in at 14th overall in the league.
While kicking off, the Niners gave up returns of 24.