Expert tells 49ers fans the real position of need at trade deadline

It's not what you think.

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Almost all of the talk around the San Francisco 49ers during the trade deadline has been around the defense. Trying to replace Nick Bosa is clearly the number one priority, with adding help to replace Fred Warner is a secondary thought as well. However, Aaron Schatz of ESPN brings up another position on another side of the ball that the team should be looking into. 

Do the San Francisco 49ers need to trade for an offensive lineman? 

As ESPN did a trade primer for every team, Schatz chose left guard as the key position of need for the 49ers. 

Left guard Connor Colby, a seventh-round rookie, ranks last among all qualified guards in pass block win rate (84.3%)

Aaron Schatz

The analysis is fair. Colby has been a massive liability. So much so that the team has experimented with pulling him mid-game in each of the last two games. The issue is that the player they are pulling him for is Nick Zakelj, who is a practice-squad call-up. 

First, Zakelj is going to run out of practice-squad call-ups, so the team is going to need to decide if they want him on their 53-man roster if they cannot improve at this position soon. Second, if you are debating whether to start a practice squad player or a seventh-round rookie who is struggling, you may want to add someone else. 

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The team may be able to get Ben Bartch back at the position, but let's think about that. Is Bartch an upgrade over these two? It would be hard not to be. However, this is a player who has been in the NFL since 2020, and he has 24 career starts. He has been with the 49ers since 2023 and has four starts. 

Bartch may be an upgrade because they are getting such poor play, but he is not a lock to even be average at this point. He is also not a lock to stay healthy after being inserted back into the lineup. 

San Francisco may be able to find a cheap, veteran left guard on the market. It may not impede their ability to fix the defense. They may also realize their best way to fix the defense is to outscore every team, which means adding a left guard into the mix anyway. 

It would not be the trade that many fans saw or predicted, but most would not be disappointed if a new left guard were in the mix via a trade in the next week. Will the 49ers add a guard?