With as much uncertainty as the offense has seen for the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, it’s easy to forget about the defense.
A supposedly strong unit could very well be without safety Jimmie Ward to begin the season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed that it was in fact a bad hamstring injury that will keep him out of game action. If he were to miss extended time in the regular season, legitimate concerns about the 49ers defense would be justified.
Still, he doesn’t move the needle much for their Week 1 matchup against the Chicago Bears. Chicago is a mess offensively and isn’t an injured safety away from a threatening downfield attack. Waiting on Ward to be healthy to make a futures bet on San Francisco is fair, but pulling the trigger on FanDuel‘s -6.5 spread for Week 1 (-115 odds) shouldn’t be affected by a Ward injury.