CLEARING A PATH
led by 49ers hope fortified line, led by the most expensive player to ever man the position, can pave the way to another Super Bowl championship
Drafting Trey Lance as Jimmy Garoppolo’s heir apparent at quarterback was the 49ers’ attentiongrabbing move this offseason. Priority 1A was a little less splashy, but required a record-setting contract and just might hold the key to the 49ers’ hopes of returning to the Super Bowl. Improving their offensive line became an obvious mission, not just to complement whoever is at quarterback, but also block for whoever is carrying the ball in a run-oriented attack. So the 49ers re-signed left tackle Trent Williams to the richest contract ever for an offensive lineman.
That was $138 million well spent, say Williams’ teammates.
“You can’t pay too much for a guy like that,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said this spring. “He’s a guy that puts you over the top and in that championship caliber.”
Williams has the seventh-richest contract in the NFL, one spot ahead of Garoppolo, the guy he’s supposed to protect. So what can Williams possibly do to be worth more than virtually everyone else in the league?
“This guy is actually moving defensive linemen into the laps of linebackers, back into the secondary, and that just doesn’t really happen in the NFL,” Juszczyk says.
Even at 6-foot-5 and nearly 320 pounds, Williams can’t do it all. So the 49ers brought in center Alex Mack, a six-time Pro Bowler from Cal. They also used the draft to add more depth, taking guard Aaron Banks in the second round and Jaylon Moore in the fifth.
There’s also an historical element to the franchise’s desire to fortify its offense from the front five: reliable offensive lines escorted the 49ers to five Super Bowl wins — and nearly two more.
Can this group pave the way for Super Bowl championship No. 6? We’ll see.
Offensive linemen are usually the least known players on the team. Get to know the 49ers’ guys.