49ers roster: 3 weakest positions following 2021 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers did some major reinforcing via the 2021 NFL Draft, yet there are still some positions with legitimate question marks.
The San Francisco 49ers undertook some pretty notable philosophical shifts during the offseason, which were made apparent by general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan’s moves during the 2021 NFL Draft.
The biggest of these, of course, was the No. 3 overall selection of North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who’ll be the first truly mobile signal-caller Shanahan has had at his disposal since taking over the job back in 2017. While quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is still intended to be the starter this upcoming season, the gradual transfer of power to Lance is a massive change for the Niners.
Additionally, Shanahan bucked his previous trend of using early picks on wide receivers, too, not selecting one at all during this draft despite it being a deep class at the position.
Instead, San Francisco’s focus centered around beefing up the ground game, offensive line and the secondary. Speaking of the O-line, the 49ers entered the 2021 offseason with this being arguably the biggest worry point, only to see Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams re-signed, center Alex Mack brought aboard and a second-round pick used on Notre Dame guard Aaron Banks.
Suddenly, the O-line is that much deeper and should no longer be viewed as a potentially weak position.
That said, there are still some positions where either a lack of depth is concerning or there isn’t exactly a full crop of proven starters.
While it’s always fun and easy to gloat over how good any team’s NFL Draft class was, the Niners’ efforts in this year’s draft still prompt some worry about these three still-weak positional units.