San Francisco 49ers: 5 players who’ll need bounce-back years in 2019
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Center Weston Richburg
The 49ers spent considerable effort upgrading their offensive line entering 2018, and one of the big moves was to bring aboard veteran center Weston Richburg on a lucrative free-agent contract.
Unfortunately, Richburg didn’t exactly live up to the first year of his deal.
Niner Noise listed Richburg as one of the team’s bigger 2018 disappointments, citing Pro Football Focus’ grading as a key piece of evidence:
"Pro Football Focus ranks Richburg No. 30 among 38 qualifying centers on the year, making the financial investment in him sting quite a bit. In fairness to Richburg, he has been hampered by a knee injury for most of the season but has missed just one game. And Shanahan feels as if the team hasn’t yet enjoyed the full abilities the 27-year-old former second-round NFL Draft pick has to offer."
That injury will be something to monitor this offseason and going into training camp.
Generally speaking, the interior of San Francisco’s offensive line was viewed as the weak point. And considering how important centers are to Kyle Shanahan’s offense, one can only hope Richburg makes some notable strides between 2018 and 2019.