SF 49ers: 5 biggest disappointments over first quarter of 2020
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: The SF 49ers offensive line’s massive regression
In 2019, Football Outsiders ranked San Francisco’s offensive line 15th in pass protection and eighth in run support.
Four weeks into 2020, those rankings have dropped to 21st and 31st in each respective category.
True, the SF 49ers underwent some serious changes from last year’s opening-day starting lineup. Ben Garland is in at center over the still-injured Weston Richburg. The Niners bid farewell to right guard Mike Person, inserting Daniel Brunskill into his stead at right guard. And left tackle Joe Staley retired, opening up the door for the trade for perennial Pro Bowler Trent Williams.
Through four weeks, however, this unit has failed to jell properly. While Pro Football Focus hasn’t credited right tackle Mike McGlinchey with a sack yet, he’s still given up six quarterback hits on the season. Brunskill is looking less like a hidden-gem find and more like a halfway decent reserve, while even Williams had a rough game in Week 4 with two sacks allowed.
But perhaps the biggest concern is the lack of run-blocking success. True, the Niners are ranked eighth in yards per rush (8.7). Yet most of that has stemmed from chunk plays, not consistency.
Football Outsiders recognizes that, while ESPN has the SF 49ers ranked 30th in its run-block win-rate metric (65 percent).
For an offense built around the run, this is a massive letdown.