One of the teams I am most intrigued to get a look at this season is the San Francisco 49ers. With Kurt Warner’s retirement bringing uncertainty at quarterback for Arizona, the door is open for San Francisco to make a playoff run.

The 9ers sported a solid defense last season and Alex Smith provided some hope at quarterback that he not only might not be a complete stiff but also might actually be something resembling decent.

Couple that with a full training camp for last year’s holdout rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree and another year of experience for tight end Vernon Davis, who finally looked like a talented receiver himself last year, and there were already plenty of reasons for optimism.

What I liked best were this season’s first round draft choices, tackle Anthony Davis and guard Mike Iupati. I am a proponent of building offenses from the fat guys out and these two have the potential to really bring it for the red and gold.

I would expect some struggles early as those two figure it out on the job. But it looks based on a Fox Sports report like they’re both pegged for the starting lineups from the start of the preseason. Give them half a season to figure it out and guys like Frank Gore, Crabtree and Davis could be guys you want to have on your fantasy rosters for the second half of the season.

Mike Singletary might be on his way toward bringing this team back to its days of glory. I don’t expect a Super Bowl run this year, but I would be hugely surprised if San Francisco is not dramatically improved this season.