With Anthony Lynn coming to the San Francisco 49ers to help develop Trey Lance, Niner Noise looks at some potential free agents who could follow him to the Bay Area.
The end of any season inevitably brings about change, and the San Francisco 49ers wasted absolutely no time bringing in a big change with the announcement of former Los Angeles Chargers head coach and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn as the new assistant head coach.
The Niners made this move with quarterback Trey Lance in mind. Lynn has done some great work with the Chargers’ franchise quarterback, Justin Herbert, and San Francisco wants to ensure that Lance, who has a cannon for a throwing arm similar to Herbert, will get the best chance possible to succeed.
With Lynn joining the 49ers staff, there will undoubtedly be a few players who could follow him to the Bay Area via NFL free agency this offseason.
The Niners will have a little money to play with once quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and EDGE Dee Ford are moved on, and there are a few holes on the roster that could be upgraded.
49ers Free-Agent Target No. 1: Offensive Lineman Evan Brown, Lions
Most fans won’t know the name of Evan Brown for good reason, as he’s generally not a household name for the Detroit Lions.
But when Brown had to fill in for Frank Ragnow at center when the latter suffered an injury last season, he surprised many with a quality performance. This little flash showed he has the right to challenge for a proper starting role.
Alex Mack did a very good job at center for San Francisco in his first season and showed he has a lot left in the tank, making the Pro Bowl, but he’s already possibly considering retirement. If he does leave, or even if next season is his final hurrah, the team needs to find a replacement at center.
Brown is only 25 years old and has a lot of football left in him. He wouldn’t cost the 49ers a lot to entice him to come over either with the chance to be a starter in a winning organization.
49ers Free-Agent Target No. 2: Running Back Justin Jackson, Chargers
The Niners are in an interesting pickle given their running back situation, and how they generally have liked to utilize their entire running back corps in games.
Injuries sort of forced San Francisco’s hand on this issue with Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel leading the team in the second half of the season.
Mitchell and Samuel are, naturally, about 100 different varieties of awesome. But the 49ers do historically like to play with more than just a few running backs.
Raheem Mostert is in his contract year, and while the Niners would like to retain him, there are other priorities, and he’s too injury prone to give a large contract to. Trey Sermon showed some skill as a runner early on in the season but fell out of favor due to injury and a lack of ability in special teams.
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Justin Jackson is just a rotational running back for the Chargers but has shown quite a lot of promise with 68 carries for 364 yards and two touchdowns and a 5.4 yards-per-carry average last season. He’s also shown some abilities in the passing game as well with 22 receptions for 178 yards.
Jackson has been roughly as impressive in his other three seasons as well without being a starter. He’s been a good backup for the Chargers but seems like the kind of running back who could flourish in the 49ers system.
Running back may not be the biggest need for San Francisco, but a handy weapon like Jackson could only help the development of Trey Lance and ease any pain from a Mostert departure.
49ers Free-Agent Target No. 3: Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Texans
With the Trey Lance era beginning in San Francisco, the team needs a reliable presence behind him as the backup quarterback. Tyrod Taylor is not only one of the best backup quarterbacks on the market this offseason, but he’s reunited with Anthony Lynn before.
Taylor did his best work with the Buffalo Bills, previously, being elected to the Pro Bowl as an alternate while Lynn was the offensive coordinator there. Taylor then followed Lynn to the Chargers where he was the stopgap quarterback for Los Angeles before injury forced Justin Herbert to start, a role he would never give back.
More recently, Taylor was the stopgap for the Houston Texans, where he had mixed results as a starter before Houston moved to Davis Mills.
That’s not overly a concern, however. Houston didn’t have a lot of talent on offense, and if Taylor was an exceptional quarterback, he would be a proper starter.
The 49ers, however, do have the necessary talent on offense to make Taylor a success if Lance gets hurt or if they decide he needs more developmental time. Taylor wouldn’t break the Niners’ finances, and they can have a good commodity as the backup who did his best work under Lynn.
As far as players Lynn could bring over to San Francisco with him, Taylor stands out as the most notable.