SF 49ers: Rethinking top 2021 NFL Draft needs halfway through season
By Peter Panacy
SF 49ers NFL Draft Need No. 2: Interior Offensive Line
San Francisco’s offensive line was borderline atrocious over the first five weeks of the 2020 season. And while there’s been some improvement as of late, it’s still a unit likely needing some upgrades and tweaking between now and the start of 2021.
Left tackle Trent Williams is a pending free agent, and injuries and cap restraints may convince the SF 49ers to move on from veteran center Weston Richburg next year, too. Left guard Laken Tomlinson could be thrown into the cap-casualty category, while right guard Daniel Brunskill has looked more like a quality backup than a true starter.
Either way, there are likely to be some notable O-line shakeups for the next few years, prompting the idea the Niners should use at least one of their first two picks — they currently don’t own a selection in Round 3, thanks to the trade that acquired Williams — on an offensive lineman.
Probably an interior player.
Fortunately, the 2021 NFL Draft class is supposed to be awfully deep at the position. While there might not be a clear-cut interior lineman stud atop the draft, a number of starting-caliber players are likely to be had on day two of the draft, perhaps a number in the early rounds of day three.
A number of mid- and late-round interior linemen would include:
- Walker Little, Stanford
- Deonte Brown, Alabama
- Sadarius Hutcherson, South Carolina
- Tyler Linderbaum, Iowa
- Zion Johnson, Boston College
- Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame
- Aaron Banks, Notre Dame