MOST IMPROVED TEAMS, DIVISION BY DIVISION, PART 6 OF 8: NFC WEST

Author: Peter DiPaola (twitter @peterssports88)

ONLINE POLL RESULTS OF WHICH NFC WEST TEAM HAS IMPROVED THE MOST THIS OFFSEASON:

TWITTER
49ers 71%
Seahawks 18%
Rams 11%
Cardinals 0%

FACEBOOK
49ers 82%
Rams 18%
Seahawks 0%
Cardinals 0%

WRITER'S PICK: 49ers  

San Francisco went 2-14 in 2016 but they have silently won this offseason, they brought in Kyle Shanahan to be their head coach, this is his first gig as a head coach in the NFL and they brought in former NFL safety John Lynch to be their general manager.

The 49ers did not just add a new coach and GM but they added plenty of talent during the offseason before the draft, quarterback Brian Hoyer, wide receiver Pierre Garcon and tight end Logan Paulsen all who have played for Shanahan were signed.  Those were not the only players brought on board, they also signed Marquise Goodwin (WR, Bills), FB Kyle Juszczyk (FB, Ravens), Tim Hightower (RB, Saints) Malcolm Smith (LB, part of the Seahawks Super Bowl winning team) and Matt Barkley (QB, Bears).  Both Hoyer and Barkley were on the Bears last season.

Free agency was not the only area in which the 49ers improved, they added talent via the draft, they traded down from the 2nd pick to the 3rd pick in the first round (trade with the Bears) and acquired more draft picks by doing so and ended up taking Solomon Thomas (DE, Stanford).  Then they ended up trading back up into the first round (pick 31, traded with the Seahawks who got the pick via the Falcons) and picked Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster.  With their third round picks they selected cornerback Ahkeelo Witherspoon and quarterback C.J. Beathard, in the forth round they picked running back Joe Williams.  Tight End George Kittle and wide receiver Trent Taylor were selected in the fifth round, in round six they picked defensive tackle D.J. Jones and linebacker Pita Taumoepenu.  With their seventh round pick (and final pick of their draft class) they picked defensive back Adrian Colbert.

San Francisco added pieces on both sides of the football in both free agency and the draft, San Francisco's new regime brought in players that will help improve off their 2-14 record from 2016.
While 2013 was not long ago, that was the last time the 49ers had a playoff appearance as well as a winning record, but with wholesale changes from the front office to the coaching staff and roster it is feasible that the 49ers record will be better in 2017.
  
2017 Record Prediction: 7-9, 3rd in the NFC West 

ALL TRANSACTION AND DRAFT INFORMATION IS FROM WWW.NFL.COM