Options thin for replacing Staley
SANTA CLARA — The San Francisco 49ers are weighing their options to replace left tackle Joe Staley, who’s going to be out six to eight weeks after fracturing his fibula in the third quarter of Sunday’s blowout victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Kyle Shanahan confirmed Monday.
The six-time Pro Bowler is expected to return in November, leaving a sizable void at a key position on offense.
The in-house option, and perhaps the most likely candidate to replace Staley in Sunday’s home opener against the Pitts
burgh Steelers, is rookie sixthround pick Justin Skule, who made the team despite taking his expected lumps throughout training camp and the preseason. Skule played 19 second-half snaps Sunday after the game was out of hand.
Shanahan was asked Monday what he liked about the rookie.
“Just the game’s not too big for him. That’s what we liked a lot about him, being a four-year starter in the SEC at Vanderbilt,” Shanahan said. “He got to play against a lot of good players always throughout an entire game. He played the whole game pretty well. Wasn’t always a ton of great highlight-tape plays, but he’s a guy the game wasn’t too big for and helped his team win.”
But San Francisco could be aggressive in finding a more viable and established replacement for Staley elsewhere in a trade. After all, the 49ers are 2-0 for the first time since 2012, when they last went to the Super Bowl, and protecting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is imperative as he works back from last year’s season-ending ACL tear.
The 49ers have their bye Week 4 following Sunday’s game, which could give them time to evaluate the position if Skule starts against Pittsburgh. The team would have until the trade deadline Oct. 29 to make a deal.
“We would love to (trade) if there were options,” Shanahan said. “You look at anything that’s possible. I don’t think there’s a ton of great options out there that are possible.”
Shanahan won’t switch Mike McGlinchey from right tackle to the left side, he said, even though McGlinchey played left tackle at Notre Dame and is widely considered the long-term replacement for Staley when the 35year-old inevitably retires. Additionally, moving McGlinchey would unsettle both tackle spots, rather than just one while finding Staley’s replacement.