Center is a Pressing Need for the 49ers in the Draft

Alex Mack is set to return to the 49ers in 2022.

Well, maybe.

If you asked general manager John Lynch, the likelihood of Mack playing another year before hanging them up seems decent.

"We’ve had really good communication,” Lynch said on Monday while at the NFL Annual Meeting. “He’s training like he’s coming back. I won’t speak for him, but all signs are him coming back and him being part of us.”

Where have I heard that before? Oh yea, when Lynch was discussing Joe Staley two years ago. Sure enough, he ended up retiring. Whatever the case is with Mack, one thing is for certain is that he is a placeholder as he does not have a future with the 49ers or the league.

Center is a pressing need for the 49ers in the draft.

Whether he retires or not is a moot point. The 49ers must draft a center at some point in the draft. I’m sure they’ve definitely got that position circled as one to target where they see fit. If there is anything the 49ers have demonstrated this off-season, it is that they like to look into the future with contracts.

Take Aaron Banks for example. He was drafted to compete at right guard with Daniel Brunskill and to be the contingency in case Laken Tomlinson left a year later in free agency. Sure enough, he did just that and the 49ers are not left to scramble at the position.

Ideally, the 49ers would like to have Mack back. He’s still a fine center, so it would be great to not have a rookie immediately be handed the keys to the offensive line. Plus, it’ll be better for Trey Lance to have someone of Mack’s tenure as a point of communication being under center.

Drafting a center now will only allow that rookie to learn from a “pro's pro” in Mack. Someone like a Cameron Jurgens or a Cole Strange would be a good young talent to allow to soak it in. By the time 2023 rolls around, that rookie should be in solid form to handle the duties. Of course, that’s all in theory and in a perfect world of that transition happening. But the 49ers will never know unless they draft a center and let all of that play out.

Otherwise, they’ll be scrambling next season in free agency or the draft.