The 49ers will enter the 2023 season in a somewhat familiar spot with their offensive line. As was the case in 2022 that unit has a handful of question marks surrounding it to start the year. The good news is while last year the OL was something of a problem going into the year, this season it’s something less than that.
Last season San Francisco knew what it had in its offensive tackles. Trent Williams is one of the best players in football and Mike McGlinchey was a reliable right tackle, particularly as a run blocker. They didn’t make any major moves along the interior though, leaving left guard to second-year OL Aaron Banks who virtually red shirted his rookie year in 2021. Then they held a battle between journeyman center Jake Brendel and do-everything OL Daniel Brunskill. Meanwhile they handed the right guard job to rookie fourth-round pick Spencer Burford despite the fact Brunskill had extensive starting experience there.
It had the potential to be a mess. This year that potential has diminished substantially thanks to some adequate play along the interior of the OL last season. Banks, Brendel and Burford will all return in 2023 and figure to be the team’s starters again.
Continuity is a plus. Banks acquitted himself well at left guard. Brendel was a capable center who earned a four-year contract from the 49ers this offseason. Burford struggled throughout most of last year and wound up rotating in games with Brunskill, but he was learning a new position in his first year as a pro.
Even if Banks and Brunskill don’t improve at all and simply match what they did last season it would be a significant development for the 49ers. Burford is the bigger question mark, but a full offseason to work on his new position figures to open the door for some much-needed improvement at RG. Still, that trio has to prove that last season wasn’t a ceiling.
If there is a “problem” on the OL in line with what they dealt with last year, it’s right tackle Colton McKivitz. McKivitz will replace McGlinchey after taking just 29 snaps at RT in his career. While that is his natural position that he played in college, he’s primarily been a right guard or left tackle when he’s gotten opportunities to play as a pro. The results have been less than stellar, but it’s hard to make any real judgements based on playing time as sporadic as his.
While McKivitz may be a real concern for the 49ers, the rest of their line is in a better place than it was a season ago. It may not work out for them if one or two players on the interior regress, but there’s evidence that the Banks-Brendel-Burford trio can work. Now they just need to see if they can at worst replicate what they did last year, and at best improve across the board.
