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The 49ers enter the 2018 season with high expectations after capping the 2017 season on a five-game winning streak. General manager John Lynch was active in free agency this month, revamping the parts of the 49ers roster that needed it most.
With talent comes expectations, however, and several 49ers players will have to prove themselves in a much anticipated campaign.
Jerick McKinnon
McKinnon’s production in four career seasons doesn’t match up with his lucrative contract with the 49ers. He has never eclipsed 600 rushing yards or 1,000 yards in a single season.
But his lack of production was likely a product of circumstance, not ability.
“This is the opportunity that I have been waiting for, not just since I have been in the league, but since I have been playing football, period,” McKinnon said at his 49ers introductory press conference on March 15.
McKinnon has never been a featured running back, which head coach Kyle Shanahan foresees his role being in 2018. McKinnon is explosive, versatile, and tough in run-blocking situations— all traits of an every-down back.
But he needs to prove he can do those things, in a greater workload, over the course of a season.
Earlier this month, McKinnon signed a four-year deal worth up to $30 million. His contract is essentially a one-year deal, with $11.7 million guaranteed, with team options thereafter. San Francisco would likely retain McKinnon, regardless of his 2018 performance, for another year because he will only make $4 million in 2019. The contract inflates after that, with McKinnon potentially making $4.8 million in 2020 and $7.2 million in 2021.
Shanahan labeled the former Minnesota Viking as the top running back option in the free agency crop, which included Dion Lewis and Isaiah Crowell. McKinnon will have to justify the hype in 2018. If he doesn’t produce the way Shanahan expects, the 49ers could part ways after the upcoming season.
Laken Tomlinson
The 49ers addressed their interior offensive line woes earlier this month, acquiring center Weston Richburg and right guard Jonathan Cooper, both proven starters.
Tomlinson returns as a 15-game starter last season, but he struggled. Pro Football Focus graded him as the 21st-best run-blocking guard, 46th-best pass blocker, and No. 32 overall guard.
Tomlinson will face competition from Joshua Garnett, who has cut more than 20 pounds this offseason. The left guard position is one of the offense’s biggest question marks, and Tomlinson will have to prove he is worthy of the starting position.
Jimmie Ward
Ward is a valuable asset that can move around the field. He played nickelback and cornerback in his first two career seasons, then moved to safety, and recently has been slotted at cornerback as Richard Sherman recovers from an Achilles rupture.
It’s clear the 49ers value Ward’s versatility. They picked up his fifth-year option for 2018, making him the team’s highest paid defensive player this year, at $8.526 million.
Ward missed the final nine games of the 2017 season with a broken forearm. He has played in all 16 regular season games only once in his four career seasons. With the emergence of safeties Jaquiski Tartt and Adrian Colbert last season, and K’Waun Williams as the projected starting nickelback, it’s unclear where Ward will play.
His 2018 performance is a pivotal one, playing on the final year of his deal and trying to prove he can stay on the field.
Pierre Garcon
Garcon will return in 2018 after missing the final eight games of last season with a neck injury. In the first half of the season, he produced 40 catches for 500 yards, well on his way to a solid year.
Garcon had his best season —113 catches for 1,346 yards— in 2013 under Shanahan in Washington. He averaged 857 yards per season in the final three years of his Washington tenure before joining the 49ers.
Garcon is entering his 11th career season, and it remains to be seen how he jells with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Garcon didn’t play during the team’s rapid turnaround under Garoppolo, when the 49ers ended the season on a five-game winning streak.
Earlier this month, the 49ers extended Marquise Goodwin, the breakout star in the final quarter of the season, to a three-year deal. Garcon, 31, has had a solid, long career, and will have to prove he can continue to perform at a high level in 2018.
Richard Sherman
This isn’t a slight on Sherman, who has been the top cornerback in the league since he was drafted in 2011. A four-time first-team All-Pro and Super Bowl winner, Sherman has all but booked his ticket to Canton, barring a career-threatening injury.
But he has to prove he can overcome an Achilles rupture suffered last November, returning as the shutdown cornerback both he and the 49ers front office expect him to be.
Sherman’s deal is highly incentivized on two criteria: health and performance. He has already earned a $3 million signing bonus, $2 million salary in 2018, and can receive a $2 million bonus if he passes a physical before Nov. 11. He makes money from per-game active roster bonuses, whether he plays 90 percent of 2018 snaps, and making the Pro Bowl or All-Pro teams. Sherman has the potential to make $39 million at the conclusion of his four-year deal, but he will have to earn it.
His deal was widely criticized for its incentives, and the cornerback wants to dispel the misconception that he negotiated a bad deal. His argument is that he has already made $5 million in guaranteed money. If he really wants to cash in, he must return to his dominant form, while proving wrong those who see his Achilles injury as the start of his regression.
Brad Almquist is KNBR’s 49ers beat writer. Follow him on Twitter @bquist13.