There’s some work to be done.
So remember in 2017 with all that offensive line trouble the San Francisco 49ers had? Before Jimmy Garoppolo’s lightning-quick release alleviated the concerns, quarterbacks were getting bulldozed back there. The 49ers needed to retool this thing as it was a hindrance as far back as Jim Harbaugh’s final year as head coach. Well, things have gotten better.
For run blocking, the 49ers have been light years improved in 2018. Pass blocking? That hasn’t been as great. In their pass-blocking efficiency rankings, Pro Football Focus has the 49ers ranked 23:
Impressive performances from tackles Mike McGlinchey and Joe Staley did a great job of masking the underwhelming play of the interior. Mike Person and Laken Tomlinson combined to allow as many pressures (65) as their tackle duo did, while center Weston Richburg gave up the third-most pressures of any center in the league (33). The Niners ended the year having allowed 175 pressures from their 593 pass-blocking snaps while allowing the league’s third-most quarterback hits.
The loss of Trent Brown hurts in this department, but the 49ers want to run the ball when they want to run the ball and Brown’s strengths were in the pass protection department while his run blocking wasn’t near as good. Maybe with the line from 2018 returning somewhat unchanged, the felling will make for a better pass-blocking unit.
There’s still plenty of work to be done with the offensive line, it’s not the atrocious mess it once was, but if they want to prevent another Garoppolo injury, it’s going to need to wall-up.
If they can get Garoppolo some time to throw the ball and not get defenders in his grill, everyone will be in for something.
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