The 49ers Must Strike Gold at This Position in the 2023 NFL Draft
The San Francisco 49ers arguably have the best roster in the NFL, but there is one area of the roster that seems like a gray area moving forward.
With the Niners constantly knocking on the door of a Super Bowl in the last few years, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch must keep finding ways to re-tool and upgrade the roster. While doing this, they have built and maintained a solid group of core players. However, an issue they cannot stop is age.
As the core ages, San Francisco must rely on its draft picks to not only select good prospects they want but also develop them into key contributors on a contending roster. Once veterans climb in age, an organization begins to approach a rebuild if they are not replaced adequately. One area of the roster needs to be addressed through the draft due to the salary cap implications the 49ers could face if addressed in free agency. That is the offensive tackle position.
Trent Williams is the best tackle in the NFL, and Mike McGlinchey has been serviceable to good during his time in San Francisco. But Williams is not getting any younger, and due to his talent and skill level, the 49ers are likely to downgrade from him regardless of who his eventual replacement is. Still, Shanahan and Lynch need to find someone they can rely on to protect their quarterback's blind side every Sunday once Williams decides to hang up the cleats.
Mike McGlinchey is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and San Francisco needs to be mindful of how much they'd be willing to pay him, if at all. Although McGlinchey is not an elite tackle, he is a good one, and there is no clear upgrade available in free agency. Is Mike McGlinchey worth another multi-year extension with Brandon Aiyuk, Nick Bosa, and Talanoa Hufanga approaching around the corner?
The backup tackles, Jaylon Moore and Colton McKivitz, have not looked so great in the time we have seen them in the offense. So with the clock ticking on Trent Williams and a question mark at the right tackle position, that won't bode well for the running game or the protection of whoever is playing quarterback -- a position in which the 49ers ran out of this season due to injuries.
The trenches must be the top priority for this roster's future and the offense, or it all comes crashing down. We had seen this transpire even with the most elite of quarterbacks, such as Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City when he ran for his life during the Chiefs' Super Bowl blowout loss to Tampa Bay.
Other players on this offensive line scheduled for unrestricted free agency include utility lineman Daniel Brunskill and starting center Jake Brendel. So the depth of the line as a whole is currently in question.
Regardless of how the 49ers decide to address the offensive line this offseason, they better get it right. Due to the age of their best tackle and the cost of signing other veterans, the draft would be the best way to find those answers.
