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PFF: 49ers LT Trent Williams is NFL's 6th-Best Player Over 30

It's worth noting that Williams' performance began to slip before he injured his ankle after the Bye week.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Trent Williams (71) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Trent Williams (71) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Just a couple years ago, Trent Williams was considered arguably the best player in the entire NFL, not just the best player over 30.

Now, he'll turn 37 in July and he's coming off a season in which he played just 10 games. And that's why Pro Football Focus ranks him sixth best among the NFL's players over 30 this year.

"Williams was limited to just 10 games in 2024 due to injury, but he remained outstanding when available," writes PFF's Dalton Wasserman. "His 85.6 PFF grade ranked seventh among qualified offensive tackles, though it marked his lowest in five seasons with San Francisco. He was also one of only five tackles to finish inside the top 10 in both pass-blocking and run-blocking grades."

It's worth noting that Williams' performance began to slip before he injured his ankle after the Bye week. He still was among the best in the league, but he was not playing at a Hall of Fame level as he did for so long.

Remember, Williams didn't go to training camp last year -- he golfed while his agent negotiated a contract extension with the 49ers. So he never seemed fully in football shape. And just around the time of year he usually gets into football shape, he got injured.

So there's reason to think Williams can have a bounce-back season at 37, especially if he goes to training camp. Last month, it was reported that Williams showed up to Phase 1 of the offseason program, which is a good sign.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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