On paper, yes, the 49ers’ weakness appears to be along the offensive line.
This much is certain: The interior of their offensive line is the most uncertain spot of the team.
Will the offensive line end up as the team’s downfall in the upcoming season? That is certainly a concern of 49ers fans -- and, potentially, for good reason.
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The 49ers are making the transition from Jimmy Garoppolo to Trey Lance. Young quarterbacks tend to not see the picture as clearly and hold the ball a little longer. At least, Lance has more mobility and agility to use his legs to escape trouble than Garoppolo.
The state of the O-line leads off this Week 1 edition of 49ers overreactions:
Overreaction? No, kind of.
With proven starters -- and some absolute stars -- at nearly every position on the team, the interior of the offensive line are the spots (along with quarterback) with greatest deal of uncertainty.
San Francisco 49ers
But it is not as if the 49ers have not invested in their offensive line. They have two first-round draft picks at the tackle positions: Mike McGlinchey, who enters the season with some health concerns, and Trent Williams, the highest-paid tackle in the league.
They have a second-round pick, Aaron Banks, who took all the first-team reps at left guard. A rookie fourth-round selection, Spencer Burford, shows a lot of promise at right guard.
Daniel Brunskill started every game the past two seasons, and they will likely find a spot for him at center or either of the guard positions.
And it’s clear that offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster feels strongly about Jake Brendel, who served as center Alex Mack’s backup last season.
The issue with the 49ers’ line is they will have at least two and, perhaps, three players who are starting for the first time.
Compare the 49ers’ line with that of the Los Angeles Rams. The defending Super Bowl champs will have a first-year starter at left tackle (Joe Noteboom), and a first-year starter at right guard (Coleman Shelton). The other spots are all multiyear starters who entered the league as draft picks in the second round (Rob Havenstein), fourth round (center Brian Allen) and fifth round (left guard David Edwards).
So, of course, right now the 49ers’ offensive line looks like a weakness. And it might play out that way. But this is also a group that everybody inside the building seems to like and trust.
Overreaction? Yes.
The 49ers are not perfect. But, also, there is not a perfect team in the NFL.
Let’s take a look at last season. The Cincinnati Bengals had one of the worst offensive lines in football. And they came oh-so-close to winning the Super Bowl.
Coach Kyle Shanahan is generally very good at playing to his team’s strengths. That also means he plays away from the 49ers’ weaknesses.
Shanahan is also good at figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.
Somehow, the 49ers have managed to neutralize the best defensive player in the game, Aaron Donald, who has just one sack against the 49ers in the past five head-to-head meetings.
The 49ers can cover up some vulnerabilities on the interior of their offensive line, as long as they do not have three players who are non-functional.
Here’s the good news: Theoretically, the 49ers’ offensive line should be a lot better toward the end of the season than it is when things kick off this week.
The 49ers open the season as legitimate playoff contenders. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Once the calendar flips to 2023, we’ll reassess.
Overreaction? Yes.
This is easy: Trey Lance has everything it takes to play in the NFL.
He has the physical skills as a passer and a runner. His accuracy and decisiveness should improve with experience and as he gets more comfortable.
He appears to have the intangibles of work ethic, passion and people skills.
There is nothing easy about playing the position quarterback in the NFL. So get prepared to live through the ups and downs of having a first-year starting quarterback leading a team with lofty goals and expectations.
But, also, there is no reason to doubt whether he has what it takes.
Overreaction? Probably.
When the 49ers decided to bring back Garoppolo on a dramatic pay cut, it did not necessarily put more pressure on Lance. He seems to do a very good job, even at 22, of tuning out the noise.
But with Garoppolo awaiting his chance to get on the field and rebuild his stock as a free agent in the spring, it does put Shanahan is an unusual situation.
Rarely -- if ever -- is the transition made from a successful veteran quarterback to a youngster and the veteran player remains on the team as a backup.
If the team struggles early in the season, of course, there will be a call from some to summon Garoppolo from the bullpen.
That would be a monumental decision, of course.
Garoppolo is returning from shoulder surgery, and he did not take any practice snaps with the 49ers this summer during training camp. So it’s not as if he is fine-tuned and ready to take over, either.
It seems as if things would have to get pretty bad for Shanahan to bench Lance this season because of the long-term effect that would seem to have on the organization.
But is it a possibility? If Shanahan feels as if the season is slipping away and he must do something dramatic, of course it’s a possibility.
Overreaction? Yes.
It appears the 49ers have completely moved on from Jaquiski Tartt, who started every game in which he appeared for the 49ers during the Shanahan-John Lynch era.
Tartt was a very good player whose tenure with the 49ers ended in heartbreak when he dropped an easy interception that would have placed the team in prime position to win the NFC Championship Game against the Rams.
It is not that the 49ers are thin at safety. That’s not the case. The issue is that there is a significant drop-off after Jimmie Ward, who will miss at least the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury.
The 49ers’ next four safeties are all relatively even: Talanoa Hufanga, Tarvarius Moore, George Odum and veteran Tashaun Gipson, who can be elevated from the practice squad at any time for assistance. Dontae Johnson is also an option from the practice squad, too.
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Hufanga has solidified his spot as a starter. Moore played a significant role on the Super Bowl team and started eight games in 2020 before a torn Achilles in the offseason forced him to miss all of last season. Odum started seven games for the Colts last year, and Gipson is a 10-year veteran who has a Pro Bowl on his resume.
As long as Ward returns healthy and stays healthy, the safety position should be in much better shape for the second half of the season.