NFL playoffs have hammered home what the 49ers' primary focus should be in biggest offseason of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch era
For the San Francisco 49ers, watching the playoffs from home for the first time since the 2020 season will be painful. For those running the team, it should, to this point, have been a useful exercise in confirming what they already know about the personnel moves they should be looking to make this offseason. Much […]
For the San Francisco 49ers, watching the playoffs from home for the first time since the 2020 season will be painful. For those running the team, it should, to this point, have been a useful exercise in confirming what they already know about the personnel moves they should be looking to make this offseason.
Much of the 49ers' success under the guidance of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch has been built around dominance up front. San Francisco has never had an overwhelming offensive line since Shanahan and Lynch arrived in 2017 to turn the worst roster in the NFL into one of the league's best, but the defensive line has consistently been among the most fearsome in the game.
That changed in 2024, as problems stopping the run that were all too apparent down the stretch of the 2023 regular season and during the Niners' subsequent run to Super Bowl 58 intensified over the course of the 2024 campaign. San Francisco's cause was not helped by a season-ending injury to Javon Hargrave suffered in Week 3, which also greatly hindered the 49ers' pass rush.
Too often during the season the 49ers saw their remaining defensive tackles blown off the ball in the run game, while a lack of consistent support for former Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa from both edge defenders and interior rushers meant San Francisco finished a lowly 25th in the NFL in sacks, registering just 36.
Collectively, the offensive line had a solid year, ranking eighth by pressure rate allowed (19.4%) and 12th by sacks allowed (36). However, there is clearly still room for improvement, with starting right tackle Colton McKivitz ranking 47th of 66 tackles with at least 500 snaps in blown block rate (3.9%), per Sports Info Solutions. Starting left guard Aaron Banks (3.3%), a free agent this offseason, was 55th of 64 guards by the same metric.
Meanwhile center Jake Brendel allowed 26 pressures, per Pro Football Focus, tied for the sixth most among all players at his position. In short, there are several areas up front in which the Niners could serve to improve, while a lack of depth at tackle was exposed late in the season after both Trent Williams and his backup Jaylon Moore went down through injury.
A need for more investment
San Francisco has invested heavily in the defensive line. Hargrave, set to be released with a post-June 1 designation, was the Niners' marquee free agent signing in 2023, a year that also saw them strike trades that didn't quite pan out for Chase Young and Randy Gregory. Last offseason saw them add Leonard Floyd, Yetur Gross-Matos and Maliek Collins to the mix, the latter a replacement for the departed Arik Armstead.
But, in part due to the Trey Lance trade depriving them of first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, the 49ers haven't spent a first-round pick on a defensive lineman since the selection of Javon Kinlaw in 2020. They did use their top pick in the second round in 2022 on an edge rusher in Drake Jackson, but injuries have prevented him from making the leap.
The 49ers last spent a first-round pick on the offensive line in 2018 when they picked right tackle Mike McGlinchey ninth overall. Banks was taken in the second round in 2021 but the 49ers had not since spent a day-two pick on a lineman prior to selecting right guard Dominick Puni in the third round last year. Puni was this week named to the PFWA All-Rookie team after a strong first season.
It's clear that, in recent years, there has not been enough draft capital invested in either side of the trenches by the 49ers and, this season, the NFL has seen teams who have prioritized both lines thrive.
Playoff exemplars
The Philadelphia Eagles are the shining example in this regard. Philadelphia has spent at least one pick on the first two days of the draft on either offensive line or defensive line in each of the last four drafts, using a total of eight such picks on the trenches.
And there is no arguing with the results, 2023 first-round picks Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith have dominated in the postseason, while rookie third-rounder Jalyx Hunt has blossomed into a valuable rotational defensive end. In addition, 2021 and 2022 second-rounders Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens are integral parts of an offensive line facilitating the finest season of Saquon Barkley's career.
The team they beat last week, the Los Angeles Rams haven't had as much premier draft capital to work with over the years, owing to their previous aggressive strategy in trading for stars, but they have rebuilt their defensive line brilliantly to ensure the loss of Aaron Donald did not sink them. Los Angeles hit two home runs with third-round picks in Kobe Turner and Byron Young in 2023 and used their first two picks on Florida State defensive linemen last year in Jared Verse and Braden Fiske.
Both Verse and Fiske are finalists for Defensive Rookie of the Year, with the former considered the favorite.
On the offensive line, three of the five Rams' starters in the Divisional Round loss to Philadelphia were draft picks, including 2023 top pick Steve Avila. Another, Alaric Jackson, was signed by the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2021.
The snowy spectacle of the Eagles' win over the Rams was a testament to the value of the trenches, and similar could be said of the Buffalo Bills' dramatic defeat of the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC, which pitted together another two teams who have consistently invested picks on the first two days in the trenches.
San Francisco does have other needs in an offseason that stands as the most challenging offseason of the careers of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.
The 49ers will likely need to perform a balancing act in paying quarterback Brock Purdy and keeping a still extremely talented roster that severely underwhelmed in 2024 intact.
That won't be as difficult as some have suggested, with the 49ers in a good salary cap position.
But that task still heightens the need for the 49ers to refresh their roster with successful draft picks, as they did in 2024 with a class that impressed this past season. And, as the playoffs have helped illustrate, they would be very wise to have several of those picks come from the trenches.
Shanahan and Lynch have, for the most part, done an excellent job of setting their team and their quarterbacks up for success. For a 6-11 year in which Purdy was often operating with evidently less assistance than in years gone by to prove a blip, the 49ers will need to lay the foundations for a bounce-back with more investment in areas of the team that, at least in terms of draft capital, have gone overly neglected of late.
49ers have reportedly discussed a remarkable homecoming for former arch rival amid twist in defensive coordinator search
It would be a stunning decision.
