49ers roster: 5 players under most pressure to perform at OTAs

No. 4: 49ers OL Justin Skule

San Francisco needed its sixth-round rookie from the 2019 NFL Draft, offensive lineman Justin Skule, a lot that season in the wake of injuries to both starting tackles, Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey.

But Skule appeared to take something of a step backwards last year and regularly found himself in and out of the lineup and starting only four games compared to the eight he started in 2019 despite the 49ers having just as many injury problems over the course of 2020.

The Niners having brought in two rookie linemen via this year’s draft, Aaron Banks in Round 2 and Jaylon Moore in Round 5, shake up the O-line depth chart quite a bit, first by pushing Daniel Brunskill out of a would-be starting right guard position and into an uber-reserve role.

Moore, in particular, could end up taking another one of the backup spots on the depth chart, meaning Skule’s future during OTAs will require him to win out over other players like Colton McKivitz, Tom Compton and Shon Coleman if he wants to stick around for one of likely three or four backup spots along the O-line.

Skule isn’t particularly flashy. He was clunky-yet-effective in pass protection at Vanderbilt, and those traits seemed to carry over to the NFL when he’d be on his game.

But considering the added competition, he’ll have to prove he’s a cut above the rest if he wants to continue hanging around.