San Francisco 49ers: Make-or-Break Year for These 3 Players

Now that the starting roster is all but settled, we can begin the self-indulgent speculation of what the 2012 season might hold for certain San Francisco 49ers players.

This is all of course healthy and good and right when it comes to sports talk.  

And in that spirit, I'll do my best to let my guilt subside as I hammer away at the "what may come" roughly six months before things start to come close to counting.

Alex Smith

No matter what happens, Super Bowl or not, his name will forever be the biggest punchline in the history of 49ers quarterbacks. He effortlessly whisks away all former quarterback controversies dating back to Frankie Albert.

2012 will be no different than 2005 when he entered the league because, once again, Alex Smith will have everything to prove and plenty to lose as the incumbent starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.  

With a rebuilt receiving core and an entire offseason regiment with the current coaching staff—his first back-to-back offensive coordinator in his entire career if my calculations are correct—Smith will have the opportunity to improve on his 2011 campaign which was the best of his career.

With the new weapons and more experience under his belt, 2012 has all the hopeful and finger-crossed makings of another "break out" year for Alex Smith. 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions would be nice. But a Lombardi trophy would be even nicer.

Frank Gore

It'll be a sad day when Gore takes his last snap as a San Francisco 49er. And there might be a great silent majority that believes that such a moment won't happen for even a few more years to come.

This unfortunately seems highly unrealistic, and 2012 might be the last season for Frank Gore in San Francisco unless he can explode from game one to the Super Bowl without any signs of slowing.

Gore's 2011 season was marred by injuries and off and on performances. He had a very strong middle part of the season but possibly peaked too early in that regard.  

We can only hope that Gore can muster enough in his tank for an explosive and incredible run in a 2012 that results in all sorts of glory for the fan and league favorite.

Michael Crabtree

The 49ers went to great lengths to address their wide receiving issues in the 2012 offseason. And with the draft coming up, it is highly likely that they will continue such efforts.

Where does this put Michael Crabtree?

A receiver whose career as a 49er has been inconsistent at best?

Depending on the production of the revamped wide out core and the possibility of a breakout rookie, another off and on year for Crabtree might spell doom for his days in San Francisco.

Another season sprinkled in controversy without a healthy dose of catches, yards and touchdowns might be all that management and even fans can take.

What's promising about this list of players is that they're all on the offensive side of the ball. Which means that the championship defense in San Francisco will enter the 2012 season without any question marks...

For now.