The San Francisco 49ers have the NFL’s best roster on paper.
Their group of offensive playmakers is unrivaled. They have a quarterback they believe is a franchise signal caller. They have one of the NFL’s best pass rushers, and the league’s best off-ball linebacker. Their secondary has also improved to the point that it might actually be better than the defensive line they’ve built their defense around.
One group stands out as a weak point for the 49ers, however, and it shows in the Pro Football Focus offensive line rankings.
PFF ranked all 32 offensive lines heading into the 2024 season and the 49ers landed in the bottom 10 at No. 24 overall. Via PFF:
While the 49ers’ offensive line features a future Hall of Famer and arguably the best offensive lineman of the past few years in Trent Williams, those around him have so far failed to impress. The rest of the offensive line consists of either career journeymen, such as center Jake Brendel and right guard Jon Feliciano, or young offensive linemen who the 49ers hope can improve in 2024, such as Aaron Banks and Colton McKivitz.
It should be noted up front that Feliciano is on Injured Reserve and decidedly not the team’s starting right guard this season. Had they included rookie Dominick Puni there instead the ranking actually might have fallen some.
Puni is part of the tipping point for what this group can be for the 49ers. The third-round pick out of Kansas stepped into the starting lineup early in camp and never relinquished his first-team reps. His arrow is pointing up, which is a welcome sight for the 49ers since they struggled to find consistency at RG the last couple years.
Banks will certainly need to improve, and McKivitz will need to be better in his second full season as a starter.
The good news is the 49ers should be fine even if the OL is just a little better in 2024. They made a run to the Super Bowl last year in a season where they had both Banks and Williams out for periods of time. They also had to do their shuffling at RG to get that position right.
San Francisco has managed without an elite OL throughout head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure. This year they’ll need to do more of the same.
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