Previewing The San Francisco 49ers’ Offense

The San Francisco 49ers made it official with the release of their 53-man roster heading into Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.

There were some surprises when all was said and done, including Jimmy Garoppolo restructuring his contract to remain with San Francisco as Trey Lance’s backup. The decision to waive 2021 third-round pick, running back Trey Sermon, also caught a lot by surprise.

With things nearly completely settled in this regard, I will break down the 49ers’ 53-man roster in a two-part series, starting with the offense.

San Francisco 49ers Offense

San Francisco opted to keep three quarterbacks on its active roster. That’s a rarity for Kyle Shanahan-led teams. It is also rostering a mere five wide receivers for now. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if an outside option was added ahead of September 11.

Here’s a look at the 49ers’ depth chart on the offensive side of the ball, starting with the quarterback position.

Quarterbacks: Trey Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Purdy

Shanahan made it clear after the announcement that Garoppolo was retained that Lance is still the unquestioned starting quarterback.

“Trey is our starting quarterback. That’s why Jimmy wasn’t an option unless he came in as a backup role,” Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday. “This doesn’t change anything and I just feel it makes us a much better team and doesn’t hurt our cap, like it would’ve.”

This doesn’t change the fact that Lance, entering his first season as a starter, will be under more pressure. Having a quarterback who has led San Francisco to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl appearance over the past three seasons as your backup will create pressure. It’s just human nature.

As for Brock Purdy, the rookie seventh-round pick out of Iowa State was kept on the 53 rather than being made available on waivers. The 49ers’ brass clearly thought that there was a good chance Purdy wouldn’t make it back to the practice squad, leading to the decision to retain him while waiving Nate Sudfeld.

MORE FROM FORBES3 NFL Free Agents The San Francisco 49ers Could Still TargetBy Vincent Frank

Running Backs: Elijah Mitchell, Jeff Wilson Jr., Tyrion Davis-Price, Jordan Mason, Kyle Juszczyk

The release of Sermon was somewhat surpising given the praise San Francisco’s brass threw in his direction during training camp. With that said, Sermon’s performance during practices didn’t translate to on-field success during the preseason. He becomes the latest 49ers mid-round pick at running back to fail to catch on. Sermon was a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

San Francisco also opted to waive former undrafted free agent JaMycal Hasty with the hope that he would revert back to the practice squad. That didn’t happen once the Jacksonville Jaguars picked him up off waivers.

After missing the entire preseason, Mitchell is slated to be back for Week 1 against the Bears. He will be RB1 as long as he’s healthy. A sixth-round pick out of Louisiana back in 2021, Mitchell surprised the masses by registering 1,100 total yards and six touchdowns at a clip of 4.9 yards per touch as a rookie last season.

There’s certainly some question marks behind Mitchell. Wilson missed the first eight games of last sason with a torn meniscus he suffered during the offseason. He’s scored 17 touchdowns on 255 touches over the past three seasons and could be considered the short-yardage guy.

As for the other two running backs on San Francisco’s initial roster, both are rookies. Davis-Price was a third-round pick out of LSU this past spring. San Francisco hopes that he can bring what Sermon was unable to a season ago. That is to say, tough running between the tackles.

A true standout during training camp and the preseason, Mason earned a spot on the 49ers’ roster after finding himself undrafted this past spring. The Georgia Tech product certainly caught the eye of San Francisco’s brass with some hard running during the preseason.

Tight Ends: George Kittle, Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley, Tyler Kroft

Initially, the 49ers kept only three tight ends on the roster. That changed when they brought back Kroft following some other roster juggling. Signed during the offseason, the former third-round pick out of Rutgers has had more success catching the ball in his career than both Woerner and Dwelley.

Back in 2017 with his original Cincinnati Bengals team, Kroft hauled in 42 passes for 404 yards. Throughout his career, the veteran has caught 67% of the passes thrown in his direction.

For comparison’s sake, Woerner and Dwelley are considered run-blocking tight ends. They tallied a combined nine receptions for San Francisco a season ago.

Obviously, it starts with Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle (292 receptions, 3,974 yards past four seasons). But the 49ers want more production behind him on the depth chart. Kroft could provide that. There’s also a chance this team goes after a free-agent option such as Eric Ebron ahead of Week 1.

Wide Receivers: Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud, Danny Gray

It stands to reason that the 49ers will add another wide receiver to the active roster ahead of Week 1. Willie Snead and Malik Turner are currently on the practice squad. They are both options.

As for San Francisco’s depth chart at wide receiver, it starts with recently-extended star Deebo Samuel. With that said, Brandon Aiyuk was drawing rave reviews during training camp and could be headed for a breakout performance opposite the All-Pro.

“He’s developing in all the stuff he needed to do to get better,” Shanahan back in August. “He comes off the ball every play. He runs full speed every play. He’s not slow playing stuff anymore. He’s not sitting there and fighting with guys with his hands. He’s doing it with his feet, with his hips, creating edges by running, breaking down.”

These two have a real chance to be elite with Lance tossing them the rock in 2022. The question is how everything will play out behind them.

Former seventh-round pick Jauan Jennings broke out as the 2021 season continued, catching 16 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns over the final five games. He struggled with drops during training camp, leading to speculation that free-agent signing Ray-Ray McCloud could replace Jennings as the 49ers’ top slot guy.

Meanwhile, Danny Gray was studly during both training camp practices and in his limited preseason action. That included catching a deep bomb from Lance in San Francisco’s exhibition opener against the Green Bay Packers. He, too, will play a role early and often.

MORE FROM FORBESSan Francisco 49ers on the Forbes NFL Team Valuations List

Offensive Tackles: Trent Williams, Mike McGlinchey, Colton McKivitz, Jaylon Moore

Personally, I don’t care where the NFL 100 ranked Williams. He’s among the best left tackles in the league and a top-five player in the NFL today.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, Williams can’t play all five offensive line positions. There’s a major issue at right tackle with Mike McGlinchey recently finding himself sidelined again after his knee acted up. It’s certainly a question heading into Week 1.

“I think there’s a chance (of missing regular-season games) because they haven’t told me 100 percent for sure,” Shanahan said of McGlinchey. “But they’re pretty optimistic about it. We took it real slow with him, and then he had that setback in the game. It wasn’t the exact same injury, but it was still on the same leg. So we wanted to take it slow with him, and we rested him last week.”

A first-round pick out of Notre Dame back in 2018, McGlinchey missed nine games a season ago to a quadriceps injury. These issues must be seen as concerning given what San Francisco has behind him at tackle.

McKivitz has primarily played left tackle, including in Williams’ stead Week 18 against the Los Angeles Rams. It’s an open question whether he can handle right tackle duties. Jaylon Moore was a walking disaster in San Francisco’s preseason finale against the Houston Texans.

Guards: Aaron Banks, Spencer Burford, Nick Zakelj, Blake Hance

Speaking of questions, San Francisco is set to start two new guards heading into the 2022 season. A second-round pick out of Notre Dame back in 2021, Banks played all of five offensive snaps as a rookie. He was up and down like a seesaw during the preseason, leading to more questions.

The same thing can be said about Burford, a fifth-round pick in April. While he looked good in the preseason opener against Green Bay, the small school product’s performance against Houston was just pathetic.

This led to San Francisco picking up Hance off waivers from the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday. The NorthwesternNWE
product started eight games for Cleveland a season ago at right tackle. He’ll likely move inside in San Francisco.

What we do know is that general manager John Lynch and Co. are scouring the trade market for a potential upgrade at guard. Former New England Patriots first-round pick Isaiah Wynn seems to be a logical option.

Centers: Jake Brendel, Daniel Brunskill

Sensing a theme here? The biggest question mark for San Francisco heading into a season with championship aspirations is the offensive line.

Alex Mack’s decision to retire created a less-than-stellar situation. But the 49ers’ brass had time to find a productive veteran once he made that decision. Instead, San Francisco is slated to rely on a center in Brendel who has started all of three NFL games since entering the league back in 2016.

Once Brunskill returns from injury, there’s a chance that he will take over as a starter at either guard or center. He’s started 33 games over the past three seasons. If not, San Francisco could hit the free-agent market to sign someone like J.C. Tretter. However, time is running out in that regard.