The Seahawks reign as Super Bowl champions.
They dispatched their division rival Rams in the NFC Championship Game, after which Los Angeles went on to win the offseason with its trade for single-season sack king Myles Garrett.
Where, then, does that leave the 49ers -- the NFC West's third-place finishers -- in the national consciousness?
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk doesn't much care.
"We feel great about where our team is at," Juszczyk said Friday on The Insiders. "The fact that we won 13 games last season with all that we had to deal with, I think that's easy to forget. And rightfully so. The Seahawks won a Super Bowl, the Rams had a great season, they had some great additions in the offseason, so I can understand why that is the case.
"But I think we feel great about where we're at. I love our squad. I think that we have only improved. Guys are getting healthy. We added Mike Evans and Osa (Odighizuwa) on defense, which I think both of those guys are going to make such an impact. I think we're sitting in a good spot. If people want to forget about us, that's fantastic. That's a good place to be sometimes."
San Francisco exceeded all expectations last season after injuries struck throughout the roster.
The 49ers willed themselves to a 12-5 finish, then scored a wild-card victory to end the Eagles' repeat bid. They finally ran out of steam in the Divisional Round against the future Super Bowl champs, but just like their competition, they've done plenty to fortify themselves for another run.
Beyond getting stars such as Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and George Kittle back from injuries that knocked them out for the 2025 season, the Niners also added a six-time Pro Bowler in Evans to the wide receiver room and brought back Warner's partner in crime, linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
If San Francisco can stay upright, there's little reason to expect anything less than another three-team race to the top of the NFC West.
With the Lombardi Trophy holders residing in the division, an influx of talent to the Bay and an understanding last year could've been the one if not for injury luck, there's plenty motivating the 49ers to supplant others as the team to talk about in 2026.
Just don't include a retirement tour for the 35-year-old Jusczcyk in the equation.
Heading into Year 14, the ten-time Pro Bowl fullback still has no intention of putting a timeline on his career.
"I feel so good, and I'm still having so much fun," Juszczyk said. "I'm in zero pain whatsoever, and I feel like I'm still playing at such a high level. So, I want to continue to do this thing as long as I possibly can ... I haven't put a number on when I want to end, but as it stands right now, I'm just going to keep going until the wheels fall off."
