Are the 49ers Old and Slow?

Calling the team "tired" sounds like a euphemism for "old."

Just before the 49ers left for their bye week, Kyle Shanahan said his players looked "slow and tired." That's a direct quote.

How could a football team look slow and tired after eight games? There are nine more to go plus the playoffs if the 49ers take care of business. It's early November. Slow and tired?

Calling the team "tired" sounds like a euphemism for "old." Because only an old team would run out of gas in the first half of the season. Keep in mind how many key players are approaching 30 or older than 30: Trent Williams, George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave. 

Calling the team "slow" is even more damning, because there's nothing the 49ers can do to change that. A bye week can make an old team energized, but it can't make a slow team fast. And Shanahan is desperately looking for more speed to put on the field.

“Do you have anything I can inject?" Shanahan asked with a laugh on Wednesday. "It's overall team speed and it's not just one play. It's for an overall game."

So they're losing their stamina, too. Not great.

Keep in mind, when the 49ers went to the Super Bowl in 2019, they had lots of speed. They had Raheem Mostert, the fastest running back in the NFL. They also had Dee Ford, one of the fastest edge rushers in the league at the time (when healthy, of course). Plus they had a young George Kittle, a young Fred Warner and a young Deebo Samuel.

Now those players are older, and Mostert and Ford are gone. The 49ers have no one on offense or defense who runs a 4.3. All three of their safeties run 4.7. That's unheard of.

The 49ers need to start drafting for speed and using their rookies. They're getting old fast.