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ESPN Ranks 49ers LT Trent Williams the NFL's 4th-Best Offensive Tackle

The 49ers need to start planning for life after Williams.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams (71) blocks against New York Jets defensive end Will McDonald IV (99) during the third quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams (71) blocks against New York Jets defensive end Will McDonald IV (99) during the third quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers still have one of the greatest players of all time.

Trent Williams is the ultimate natural. He has been the best left tackle in the NFL for most of his career, and he doesn't even practice much anymore. He just shows up and dominates. At least, when he's healthy. Last season, he missed seven games with an ankle injury.

That's why ESPN ranks Williams fourth among NFL offensive tackles this year.

"The top-ranked tackle from the previous four years basically has played like a 25-year-old for more than a decade," writes ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. "But the injuries have started to pile up as Williams approaches his 37th birthday, as ankle issues have cost him games in each of the last two seasons.

"He's still excellent, allowing four sacks in 10 games in 2024 and driving the 49ers' potent running attack. But, somewhat surprisingly, Williams did not garner his normal share of No. 1 votes.

"'When he's clicking, there's still nobody better,' a veteran NFL offensive coach said. 'He's the most powerful tackle I've ever seen.'

"Williams allowed an average time to pressure of 3.78 seconds last season, per Next Gen Stats, the longest among left tackles with at least 25 pressures allowed."

That last stat is extremely impressive and it shows why the 49ers gave Williams a new contract last offseason. But Williams' ankle issues have cost Williams games in each of the past five seasons, not just the past two. His ankle injuries are beginning to seem chronic. And at his age, it's fair to wonder if they're getting worse.

The 49ers have to be prepared at least a couple games without Williams every year. And since they traded for him in 2020, their record when he doesn't play is just 4-12. This year, his backup is Andre Dillard, who gave up 10 sacks in 2023.

The 49ers need to start planning for life after Williams.

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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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