There’s been a common critique of the 49ers’ last handful of offseasons. They seldom do anything substantial to address their offensive line, which has been arguably the weakest link on their roster over the last five seasons.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan in an appearance on the ‘TK Show’ with Tim Kawakami explained why the club opted not to shell out a first-round pick for an offensive lineman this year after going without a first-round pick in the last two drafts.
While offensive line might have topped the club’s list of “needs,” Shanahan’s philosophy on team building kept the 49ers from bending over backwards to find an upgrade up front.
“I’ve heard the narrative that we’re ignoring the O-line and stuff,” Shanahan told Kawakami. “If we felt the O-line was the best pick there there’s no doubt that’s who we’d take, but there were some O-lineman there at the end of the first round that we feel has just as good of a chance as a guy at the end of the second round. One’s a higher prospect and might have a higher ceiling, but I’m not too concerned about the ceiling. I want to know if he’s gonna be a starting left tackle, a starting left guard, whatever – a starting NFL player. And if you are a starting NFL lineman, I think we can have a good team with you. Now, if we have a bunch of starting NFL lineman and there’s no one who can score points, you’re not gonna have that good of an offense.”
It’s hard to argue with the results. Since 2017 when Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over the 49ers have used only one first-round pick on an offensive lineman. That was right tackle Mike McGlinchey in the 2018 draft. Their lone second-round OL is left guard Aaron Banks, and their lone third-round OL is rookie Dominick Puni.
They also finagled Trent Williams away from Washington on Day 3 of the 2020 draft for a fifth-round pick and a future third-round selection.
Beyond that they’ve signed lower-cost veterans and shelled out late-round draft capital to address those needs.
While the OL hasn’t been perfect, particularly against the likes of Aaron Donald and Chris Jones in big games, they’ve been good enough to get the 49ers to four NFC title games and two Super Bowls in Shanahan’s seven years as head coach.
It’ll be interesting to see how San Francisco operates once Williams decides to retire. Shanahan referenced his offensive line in Washington that had a ton of success, but Williams anchored that patchwork group. He was the No. 4 overall pick.
The 49ers aren’t liable to be picking that high any time soon, which begs the question of how they’ll address a Hall of Fame sized hole at the most important position on the OL. Perhaps Shanahan will alter course at that point and prioritize that spot. Or he could continue with his philosophy of just adding good players and letting his play calling and offensive playmakers make up for any deficiencies in the trenches.
