Predicting which pending free agents 49ers re-sign in 2020
By Peter Panacy
Center Ben Garland
The 49ers are going to hope veteran center Weston Richburg returns fully healthy in 2019 after suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 14.
Being the injury was so late in the season, one might figure the Niners bank on a contingency plan in case Richburg isn’t ready for the start of training camp or, perhaps, the beginning of the regular season.
And if this past year was any indication, backup center Ben Garland will be the option.
Garland, who took first-team reps in 2019 training camp while Richburg was recovering from another injury, held his own down the stretch when the latter landed on injured reserve. While Garland had some shotgun snapping issues at times, for the most part, he held up well enough in both run blocking and pass protection.
At least for a backup.
Kyle Shanahan appears to like having Garland around, so it seems a safe bet he comes back on the cheap.