What the 49ers Need in the Draft and Free Agency
The NFL Scouting Combine starts this Thursday. Here are three positions the 49ers should focus on this offseason.
1. Right tackle
No disrespect to Colton McKivitz, who exceeded expectations as a first-year starting right tackle this season. They essentially paid him backup money and asked him to play an extremely difficult position at a Super Bowl level, and he wasn't the reason they lost to the Chiefs in the end. Still, he gave up 13 sacks in the regular season and he wasn't particularly good as a run blocker either, considering most of the 49ers' successful runs went to the left, not to the right. The 49ers should look closely at the offensive tackles who are projected to go at the end of Round 1 and the beginning of Round 2, because that's where the 49ers are picking and that's their biggest need. It's time for Kyle Shanahan to acknowledge that right tackle is almost as important as left tackle in today's NFL.
2. Quarterback
No, the 49ers don't need a starter, but they certainly need a backup considering Sam Darnold is a free agent and he's not that good. He didn't magically improve on the 49ers after years of subpar performance on other teams. The 49ers should let him leave and replace him with someone cheaper and better, from the upcoming draft perhaps. If they could find Brock Purdy in the seventh round, they should draft another quarterback and see what happens. Because backup quarterback is becoming an extremely important position. And the 49ers are so talented that they should be able to win lots of games without Brock Purdy if he were to go down for a couple months.
3. Kicker
Jake Moody is simply unreliable. He's the kind of kicker who will make a 50-yarder and miss an extra point in the same game. Which means he's a headcase at this point of his career. And that means he can't play for a Super Bowl contender such as the 49ers. They have too much at stake to be worrying about him. They need to ship him to a team that has nothing to play for, like the New England Patriots, and find someone else. Maybe the 49ers can trade Jake Moody for Mac Jones straight up and make Jones their backup quarterback.
