Assessing the 49ers Options on the Offensive Line

The 49ers ranked 30th in pressure percentage against in Week 1. That included nine pressures by Pittsburgh on the right side of the line - five pressures and three sacks by T.J. Watt against Colton McKivitz, four pressures against Spencer Burford.

Can the Niners use their now extensive cap room to shop at the trade deadline or sign a free agent for the offensive line? A free agent signing maybe, but the best targets are coming off knee surgery. There are no realistic trade scenarios.

If a player is to be added, they need to have spent significant time in the Kyle Shanahan scheme. The Niners acquiring a player and sitting him for weeks to learn the blocking schemes seems highly unlikely.

Options do exist, but…

The Bengals just cut 30-year-old La’el Collins from their PUP list, but he’s still recovering from knee reconstruction surgery after tearing his ACL and MCL last year.

It’s unknown when the 6-4 320-pound tackle can pass a physical. Cincinnati runs a zone-blocking scheme so that fits, but when he could play is a mystery. He's the best player available - if he can play.

Taylor Lewan says, “I’m not retired” and that he’s interested in returning to play. The 32-year-old former Pro Bowler suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 last year. He has the requisite scheme experience.

Both players should be brought in and then the medical evaluations sort out the best course of action. Whether the Niners will, there's no sense of urgency, but Collins unexpectedly coming available may lead them to at least kick the tires.

Collins will meet with his doctor on Monday and has been contacted by nearly a dozen teams. No word yet if the Niners are one of them.

Shanahan believes in McKivitz

After the Pittsburgh game, Shanahan gave McKivitz a vote of confidence, acknowledging that “he had the toughest matchup on the field” facing Steelers All-Pro T.J. Watt. No doubt, Watt is one of the league’s best, but so are Micah Parsons and Haason Reddick, and the Niners likely have to beat at least one of the Cowboys or Eagles in the playoffs to get to the Super Bowl.

All the Niners can do for now is give McKivitz more help, emphasize to Brock Purdy that the ball needs to come out as quickly as possible, and run left a ton.

The only realistic options are to turn to backups Jaylon Moore or Matt Pryor if McKivitz continues to struggle. Neither are upgrades. The options in free agency have bad knees and there are no viable targets in trade so the Niners will probably go with what they have in-house.

Will it cost them a Super Bowl appearance?

In my view yes, that was my prediction going into the season. A loaded team with a fatal flaw on the right side of the offensive line that could be exploited by Philadelphia and Dallas.

Maybe Purdy and the offense can overcome it, but his stats indicate pressure is a problem. Last year a 74% completion percentage in a clean pocket, 48% in a muddy one, a steep drop in efficiency. Against Dallas in the playoffs a 94/25 split facing a 48.5% pressure rate. More importantly, only 19 points.

So run it into the ground, throw short for yards after catch plays, move the pocket, and hope the defense can hold them. Yup. Meanwhile, the Dallas defense has improved, and Philly’s Jalen Carter was the top rookie in Week 1 according to Pro Football Focus with at least six pressures (some had eight) and a sack.

So now what?

The mission is to not allow the mismatch on the right side of the line to lose a playoff game to Philly or Dallas. The Eagles struggled in their opener facing a transition with new coordinators. Dallas smoked the Giants with 27 pressures and seven sacks in shutting out New York, but Dak Prescott was a meager 13-24 for 143 yards.

A benefit for the Niners in unlocking how to resolve the right side of the line is they will play both Dallas and Philadelphia in the regular season. Dallas comes to Levi’s for the Sunday night game on Oct. 8 where both teams could be 4-0. The Eagles game is on Dec. 3 in Philly.

Both games will reveal if the offensive line mismatch can be overcome and how.

A look ahead to the draft

For those who want to do some scouting on Saturdays, the offensive line talent pool for the draft is deeper than last year. A day-one starting right tackle should be on the board when the Niners pick in the late 1st or if they trade up to the early 2nd.

Among the collegiate tackles getting early buzz:

Top ten and out of reach: Joe Alt (Notre Dame) 6-8/315, Olu Fashanu (Penn State) 6-6/323.

Top 20 and potentially requiring a trade up in the 1st: Amarius Mims (Georgia) 6-7/330, Kingsley Suamataia (BYU) 6-6/315.

Late 1st: J.C. Latham (Alabama) 6-6/335.

Late 1st-early 2nd: Blake Fisher (Notre Dame) 6-6/310.

Late 2nd-early 3rd: Jordan Morgan (Arizona) 6-6/320.

Late 1st-early 2nd hybrids expected to play guard in the NFL: Graham Barton (Duke) 6-5/306, Jonah Monheim (USC) 6-5/295.

I’ve projected Fisher to the Niners for over a year. Prototypical size, long arms, a system fit with years of starting at right tackle, and a high intelligence, high character player that fits the 49ers' blueprint. Suamataia and Latham are also great options if they are still on the board when the Niners pick.

Shanahan’s cap blueprint requires a cheap option at right tackle, and the draft provides that. He passed on tackles in this year’s draft citing they lacked experience at right tackle and didn’t fit what he was looking for. That won’t be the case in 2024, Suamataia, Latham, and Fisher all have significant time at right tackle and fit the system.