The starting right guard spot was one of the biggest question marks for the 49ers heading into camp. With less than two weeks until the regular-season opener though, their questions are further from being answered than they were when training camp kicked off.
Center Ben Garland, who was starting in place of Weston Richburg while he works through a knee injury he suffered late last season, hurt his ankle in camp – leaving his status uncertain for Week 1. That leaves two spots open on the offensive front, and each of the players competing at right guard are also competing at center.
The result is a mix-and-match situation that Kyle Shanahan still hasn’t sifted through yet to make a decision. He told reporters following Wednesday’s practice that he’s still figuring out the best combination of players on the interior.
“We don’t know the health of Garland yet, how he’s going to be next week and how that’s going to go for both the positions. So, it’s kind of a nice situation for me because we know that we had a competition to see who is our starting right guard,” Shanahan said. “And it’s kind of been hard to have a true just starting competition at right guard when both of those guys have got to be playing center and the possibility of starting at center and what gives you your best combination for Week 1. So, all that’s going into play, which makes it to where I wouldn’t want to give you the answer, but I truly don’t know the answer anyways because of the situation. I know Garland is not going to be trying to come back until next week and we’re going to have to play that out, see how it goes and see what the best line up is.”
Tom Compton and Daniel Brunskill were rotating in at right guard when Garland was healthy, and now one will play right guard and the other will play center if Garland can’t go.
One issue that arises is whether one is better at both spots. The 49ers would then have to decide whether they wanted to have four starters and a reserve center, or a better reserve center, but a worse starting right guard who goes to the bench once Garland returns.
It’s not a good problem, but the 49ers are well-equipped to handle it thanks to a host of versatile interior offensive linemen. The bigger key will be whether they can be healthy for the playoff push late in the year with an entire starting offensive line intact. For now, it remains a question, and the team’s early success could rely heavily on how well they’re able to find the right solution.
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