Win now or build for later? The 49ers' dominant D-line dictates their immediate championship hopes. Pressuring quarterbacks is the key to maximizing their current window.
The 2026 offseason forces the San Francisco 49ers to answer a question that feels simple on the surface but complicated in execution: if you can only prioritize one, does the offensive line or defensive line take precedence?
Long term, the answer might be offense. But if the goal is to win right now, and only worry about right now, then the defensive line has to be the priority.
To be clear the 49ers’ offense is good enough to contend in 2026. It may not be perfectly built for the next five years, and yes, there are looming questions about depth, long-term contracts, who is going to play wide receiver, and eventually replacing aging pieces. But if this season is about maximizing the current window, the offense has enough firepower to function and Kyle Shanahan calling the plays.
What it doesn’t have is margin for error. And that’s where the defensive line comes in.
The 49ers’ defensive identity has always been built on controlling the trenches. When Nick Bosa is healthy and disruptive, everything changes. Pair him with a fully healthy Mykel Williams, and you have the foundation of a terrifying edge duo, even if Williams is a rookie. Add Fred Warner cleaning things up behind them, and the formula is obvious. If there’s pressure up front it makes life easier for everyone else.
More importantly, look at the Seattle Seahawks.
Under Mike Macdonald, Seattle leaned into defense rather than trying to out-scheme Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay offensively. The results? Two late-season matchups where San Francisco managed just nine total points combined. That wasn’t a fluke, it was a blueprint. Seattle didn’t try to win a track meet. They suffocated games.
If the 49ers want to win the NFC West this year, they need to flip that pressure back onto teams like Seattle. That means boosting a pass rush that was inconsistent in 2025. Sack totals weren’t where they needed to be. Quarterbacks had too much time. Even elite linebackers and secondaries can only hold up for so long.
Investing in the defensive line does two things immediately: it shortens games and multiplies possessions. More stops equal more opportunities for an offense that, while imperfect long term, is explosive enough to capitalize right now.
Could the offensive line use reinforcements? Absolutely. But that feels like a sustainability move. Strengthening the defensive front is a championship push move.
If 2026 is about maximizing this window right now and not worrying about 2028 then the trenches that matter most are on defense.