Undrafted free agent offensive lineman Najee Toran was promoted from the San Francisco 49ers practice squad in Week 2. We look at his similarities to Matt Breida, a 2017 UDFA, who is now an integral part of the roster.
Once in a while, opportunity knocks for a man and it knocks hard. The San Francisco 49ers have just handed a huge one to an undrafted free agent guard from UCLA.
On the back of injuries and underwhelming play by offensive guards Mike Person and Joshua Garnett, free-agent rookie Najee Toran has a chance to break through the depth chart and entrench himself as the latest success story for late-round and undrafted rookies in the general manager John Lynch era of drafting.
With the exception of the pass rush, the interior offensive line is the 49ers’ biggest weakness this early in 2018. While pass blocking did show improvement during the preseason, these did not carry over to the first regular-season game — a Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings — although injuries to both Person and Garnett significantly hurt San Francisco’s chances.
PFF pass protection numbers for the 49ers jumbled front were ugly: Vikings pressured Garoppolo on 19 of 38 drop backs. 50% pressure rate (league average was 34.9%).
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) September 10, 2018
Backup RT Garry Gilliam wasn’t good — 1 sack, 1 hit, 3 hurries in limited action
Ahead of their Week 2 bout with the visiting Detroit Lions, the 49ers called up Toran off the practice squad. And while he didn’t see the field in San Francisco’s 30-27 victory, there’s a chance either injuries or bad play from either Person or Garnett opens the door for the former UCLA Bruin.
Certainly for Toran, he won’t be starting in place of an established star or steady presence on the line anytime soon. The offensive line was not very impressive at all in Week 1, albeit in a hostile environment versus an elite defense. And one has to take this unit’s performance in Week 2 against a suspect Lions defense with a grain of salt.
So clearly, if Toran ends up seeing the field and plays well, the door is ajar to consider a new pecking order at right guard, and one has to only look back to last season to see the last undrafted free agent to have an impact for the 49ers.
Matt Breida was an undrafted free agent from Georgia Southern, and quickly cemented himself as the No. 2 running back for the 49ers his rookie season. Lynch has no problems giving the big jobs to the least assuming of people as long as they fulfill their role.
It helps Toran to essentially fly under the radar this early in the season without a big book on his abilities.
Toran has a huge opportunity to be the next big success story. If he contributes to what will hopefully be improved blocking in coming weeks, the question will be asked if the answer to right guard was one that was never considered during preseason.
Opportunity knocks, and you won’t find many situations this season that knock any harder.