Many fans believe the San Francisco 49ers offensive line is closer to below average, if not a bottom five unit, but PFF begs to differ
The majority of offensive line discussions center around negativity. A player gets beaten once or twice over the course of 60 snaps in a game, and they’re unplayable.
A cornerback can get burned ten times in a game, but if he’s not targeted, nobody says a thing. A wide receiver can struggle to separate all game, but three first-down receptions will overshadow those 30 other plays.
Needless to say, offensive linemen rarely, if ever, get the benefit of the doubt. So, when Pro Football Focus came up with their offensive line rankings to preview the 2025 season, it might come as a surprise to see the San Francisco 49ers rank as an above-average unit:
Trent Williams remains the leader of San Francisco’s line, but the soon-to-be 37-year-old won’t be able to do so forever. For the first time in five seasons, he ranked outside the top two offensive tackles in PFF overall grade (85.6) this past year. Williams also missed significant time due to injury.
The 49ers’ group is still above average, especially considering Dominick Puni’s emergence. The Kansas product ranked sixth among all guards with an 80.5 PFF overall grade as a rookie.
Would it surprise you to know that the 49ers were the highest NFC West team on the list?
I wouldn’t have guessed that Puni ranked so highly. The rookie pitched shutout after shutout during the first half of the season. But his play tailed off in December, which tends to happen as that’s when most colleges are done with their season. Per Sports Info Solutions, Puni finished 2024 with 33 blown blocks. Twenty two of those happened from Week 12 on.
Assuming Puni continues to develop, even if his play dips a bit, the 49ers having a top-10 player on the right side of the line in successive seasons is a new, welcomed, feeling.
Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. There’s no need to spend time talking about what we already know. Although it should be pointed out that Brock Purdy ran out of multiple sacks in which most quarterbacks would’ve been dead in the water. So, seeing PFF have McKivitz graded as a slightly above average player should have a Trent Williams sized asterisk next to it.
Left guard is the wild card. Last year, Aaron Banks graded 28th out of 56th guards. He was 22nd against the run and 44th against the pass. That is the definition of a replaceable player. Banks brought consistency in availabilty. That’s the biggest challenge Ben Bartch, Matt Hennessy, or whoever wins the job Banks held down for the previous few seasons has.
Finally, center. Jake Brendel finished 12th according to PFF’s grading. This is where the different charting services disagree. Sports Info Solutions believes Brendel was far more valuable as a pass protector than PFF. SIS only has Brendel giving up six blown blocks across 621 snaps all seasons, while PFF has Brendel giving up 26 pressures.
Semantics aside, having a top 15 center and right guard helps offset a right tackle that has consistently struggled in the dropback passing game. If there’s a slight improvement at left guard paired with that Trent Williams guy playing next to him, the Niners offensive line will hover around a top 10 unit all season.