The San Francisco 49ers landed at 14th overall in ESPN’s recently released future power rankings with an 82.4 grade, which falls in the “very good” category. However, two factors stand out as legitimate concerns for the 49ers’ long-term outlook: an aging offensive roster and a front office that received a below-average score.

For context: The future rankings were composed by a panel of four analysts: Louis Riddick, Aaron Schatz, Ben Solak, and Seth Walder. They rated each team’s quarterback situation, remaining non-quarterback roster makeup, front office, and coaching staff.

The scoring scale breaks down like this:

• 100 is elite (A+)
• 90 to 99 is great (A)
• 80 to 89 is very good (B)
• 70 to 79 is average (C)
• 51 to 69 is very bad (D)
• 50 or below is disastrous (F)

The measured window is from 2027-2029, as well. So, now that we have all that in tow, let’s dive in.

ESPN’s grade of John Lynch and the 49ers front office grade is a red flag

When it comes to general manager John Lynch and the front office, San Francisco received a 74, which grades out as average and ranks 23rd in the NFL. That score alone is concerning, but it becomes even more problematic when paired with the age-related issues on the roster.

“Age and longevity. That’s what concerns me with this team, particularly on offense,” wrote Riddick. “Left tackle Trent Williams is 38, fullback Kyle Juszczyk is 35 and wide receiver Mike Evans is 32. Tight end George Kittle is 32 and coming off an Achilles tear. On top of that, San Francisco deals with significant injuries seemingly every season, relying on the coaching staff to develop and utilize unheralded players and keep this team in the hunt.”

There’s a real tie-in between these two issues. If the 49ers are aging on offense and the front office isn’t grading out well, then how does San Francisco expect to restock elite playmakers like Kittle and even running back Christian McCaffrey, who is in his 30s?

The 49ers’ front office came under heavy scrutiny this offseason when multiple people who cover the team closely documented Lynch’s history of reaching for players in the draft, with said players not working out for the most part. Granted, that’s not the case for every single pick, and every team has its own drafting philosophy and its own rankings. But if Lynch and Co. aren’t getting the job done, and it doesn’t look like things are going to reverse course, then it’s really hard to see how the 49ers can restock this roster with great-to-elite players.

So, with all that being said, it paints an intriguing picture as to how this team operates over the next three years.

The defensive youth provides a silver lining

On the flip side, Schatz noted a nice little nugget: while the offense might skew old, the defensive starters have an average age of 26.2, among some of the youngest in the league. That’s significant because if you have young players performing well on the defensive side of the ball, it allows you to trim your focus down to the offensive side when it comes to restocking the roster.

It’s important to note both factors. However, at the same time, the 49ers’ average roster age overall is 30.8, which leads the league. Denver is second at 29.1, so the gap is easy to see.

A bold prediction for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa

To end on a high note, Walder made a bold prediction for the 2027-2029 window: Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa will record at least nine sacks and earn at least second-team All-Pro honors in one of those seasons. A lot of people raved about the 49ers’ acquisition of Odighizuwa over the offseason, and he’s a very underrated player who can make a real impact on the defense with his power and length. It’ll be fun to see if Odighizuwa can live up to that projection.

The 49ers are still one of the NFL’s best teams and should be in pretty good shape this year despite the current injury situations they’re dealing with. But it remains to be seen what their future actually looks like when you consider the fact that San Francisco is going to have to start replacing these top guys. The question is if they have the front office to do it.