The San Francisco 49ers' 2025 season has continued to teeter from promising to disappointing, and their loss to the Los Angeles Rams only furthered to show that, given all their injuries, their defense is no longer the elite unit it looked to be to start the season.
That loss, pushing them to 6-4, may have also finally shown what the Niners' true ceiling will be this season: a fringe playoff team.
If that is true, San Francisco's focus should begin to shift from just this year to the next year as well. Just with the 49ers choosing not to mortgage future seasons by making a hasty trade at the deadline, they also need to choose to invest in that future by playing their younger players.