2025 OFFSEASON

[Jikkle]

Sounds like Kyle was behind the Aiyuk debacle

dudes needs to be excommunicated from the FO

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/brandon-aiyuk-contract-ties-49ers-hands-on-a-possible-trade

Sounds like he pretty much was this offseason.

I think Jed humored Shanahan all this time because we were so close but after this last season it was clear a bit of a reset was needed and guys needed to get back in their lanes.

Front office needs to do it's job and get the financials back in line and Kyle needs to stick to coaching.

I mean this is why you have Lynch to be the middle man between the front office and Shanahan. Lynch is supposed to be there to get the front office to open it's purse strings up a little more than they might like and to remind Kyle you're supposed to be a top tier coach so coach up what you got.

[Pattersonca65]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

[CrimsonCrew]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

[Jikkle]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

Brendel was 12th in just run blocking which is where that number probably came from. His pass blocking was horrid and ranked 51st. Overall he was PFF's 23rd ranked Center.

I interrupt Lynch's comments as being mostly PR speak. Saying you like McKivitz and Brendel doesn't mean you love them and won't upgrade them given the chance.

For example I doubt Lynch would say they just like CMC, Warner, Bosa, etc and would use stronger terminology.

Ultimately he's basically saying yeah we're fine starting them if we have too but we won't hesitate to yank them for upgrades if the opportunity presents itself.

[Jikkle]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

I don't love how McKivitz seems so helpless with speed around the edge but overall he's at least functional.

If we do draft an OT at #11 it'd really be more about grooming a replacement for Trent than it would be to replace McKivitz.

Brendel my only hope is they draft an LG and someone on the roster like Bartch unseats Brendel for the starting spot. No chance Shanahan starts a rookie at C so that's my only realistic hope. I guess my other hope is that if Brendel does end up still being the starter that better LG play will help mitigate the damage Brendel inflicts. I do think part of the problem was having both terrible LG and C play made both those positions a lot worse then they would've been if at least one of those positions were competent.

My other hope would be for a general revamp of the pass protection since a big problem was defenses using our blocking rules against us.

[CrimsonCrew]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

I don't love how McKivitz seems so helpless with speed around the edge but overall he's at least functional.

If we do draft an OT at #11 it'd really be more about grooming a replacement for Trent than it would be to replace McKivitz.

Brendel my only hope is they draft an LG and someone on the roster like Bartch unseats Brendel for the starting spot. No chance Shanahan starts a rookie at C so that's my only realistic hope. I guess my other hope is that if Brendel does end up still being the starter that better LG play will help mitigate the damage Brendel inflicts. I do think part of the problem was having both terrible LG and C play made both those positions a lot worse then they would've been if at least one of those positions were competent.

My other hope would be for a general revamp of the pass protection since a big problem was defenses using our blocking rules against us.

The are alternatives to Brendel on the roster. Zakelj, Hennessy, Bartch, and Nugent would all be options. But given that three of those guys were on the roster last year and we didn't try them makes me skeptical that they would go with them next year.

[arich35]

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

I don't love how McKivitz seems so helpless with speed around the edge but overall he's at least functional.

If we do draft an OT at #11 it'd really be more about grooming a replacement for Trent than it would be to replace McKivitz.

Brendel my only hope is they draft an LG and someone on the roster like Bartch unseats Brendel for the starting spot. No chance Shanahan starts a rookie at C so that's my only realistic hope. I guess my other hope is that if Brendel does end up still being the starter that better LG play will help mitigate the damage Brendel inflicts. I do think part of the problem was having both terrible LG and C play made both those positions a lot worse then they would've been if at least one of those positions were competent.

My other hope would be for a general revamp of the pass protection since a big problem was defenses using our blocking rules against us.

The are alternatives to Brendel on the roster. Zakelj, Hennessy, Bartch, and Nugent would all be options. But given that three of those guys were on the roster last year and we didn't try them makes me skeptical that they would go with them next year.

Kyle is so headstrong on the OL it seems like, I have a hard time seeing him making a switch unless he has to

[Jikkle]

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

I don't love how McKivitz seems so helpless with speed around the edge but overall he's at least functional.

If we do draft an OT at #11 it'd really be more about grooming a replacement for Trent than it would be to replace McKivitz.

Brendel my only hope is they draft an LG and someone on the roster like Bartch unseats Brendel for the starting spot. No chance Shanahan starts a rookie at C so that's my only realistic hope. I guess my other hope is that if Brendel does end up still being the starter that better LG play will help mitigate the damage Brendel inflicts. I do think part of the problem was having both terrible LG and C play made both those positions a lot worse then they would've been if at least one of those positions were competent.

My other hope would be for a general revamp of the pass protection since a big problem was defenses using our blocking rules against us.

The are alternatives to Brendel on the roster. Zakelj, Hennessy, Bartch, and Nugent would all be options. But given that three of those guys were on the roster last year and we didn't try them makes me skeptical that they would go with them next year.

Nugent was a rookie so no way he was going to unseat Brendel. This offseason will give some indication if they see him as someone that has a legit shot at the job or not.

Bartch was a late add from 2023 so he might not have been in the system long enough for Kyle's liking and it seems like his stock with the team didn't raise until later.

Zakelj just isn't very good or still a work in progress and Hennessy was obviously the late add to the roster.

Feliciano was taking 1st team reps at C during training camp before his knee injury and if he was healthy I think he might've been able to unseat Brendel for the spot.

The thing with Brendel is he grades out as above average in the running game and that's ultimately what Shanahan fixates on. He'd rather take a good run blocker that's a horrid pass blocker than a decent run blocker that's a decent pass blocker. I mean we basically took McGlinchey solely based on the fact that he was elite blocking at the 2nd level before injuries piled up for him and not because he was a complete player at Tackle.

My gut tells me Brendel likely starts and McKivitz status will be based on if they take a tackle at #11 or not. Based on last season I don't think Brendel's job is set in stone so I do expect them to give long hard looks at other options going into next season.

[thesack12]

From what I seem to remember Brendel was on the roster for at least 2 seasons before he ultimately got handed the starting C job. Before he even got to SF, he was out of the league entirely for a few seasons and never really had all the much experience before he left the NFL.

So while do agree that Kyle won't start a rookie at C, I'm not sure I would rule out any of those other potential in house options at C. It seems that Kyle doesn't necessary fixate on experience in general, but moreso he seems want his guy to have seasoning within his own system. So while that list of names mentioned above, doesn't have much in the way of snap counts under their belt, they do have a fair decent amount of time immersed into Kyle's system.

[Pattersonca65]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

I don't love how McKivitz seems so helpless with speed around the edge but overall he's at least functional.

If we do draft an OT at #11 it'd really be more about grooming a replacement for Trent than it would be to replace McKivitz.

Brendel my only hope is they draft an LG and someone on the roster like Bartch unseats Brendel for the starting spot. No chance Shanahan starts a rookie at C so that's my only realistic hope. I guess my other hope is that if Brendel does end up still being the starter that better LG play will help mitigate the damage Brendel inflicts. I do think part of the problem was having both terrible LG and C play made both those positions a lot worse then they would've been if at least one of those positions were competent.

My other hope would be for a general revamp of the pass protection since a big problem was defenses using our blocking rules against us.

I think you might see these lineman the same way. McKivitz is ok but undersized. Playing against better dlines or when teams know the 49ers have to pass, this line so often gets outmatched or just misses a block somewhere.

[Pattersonca65]

I don't love how McKivitz seems so helpless with speed around the edge but overall he's at least functional.

If we do draft an OT at #11 it'd really be more about grooming a replacement for Trent than it would be to replace McKivitz.

Brendel my only hope is they draft an LG and someone on the roster like Bartch unseats Brendel for the starting spot. No chance Shanahan starts a rookie at C so that's my only realistic hope. I guess my other hope is that if Brendel does end up still being the starter that better LG play will help mitigate the damage Brendel inflicts. I do think part of the problem was having both terrible LG and C play made both those positions a lot worse then they would've been if at least one of those positions were competent.

My other hope would be for a general revamp of the pass protection since a big problem was defenses using our blocking rules against us.

The are alternatives to Brendel on the roster. Zakelj, Hennessy, Bartch, and Nugent would all be options. But given that three of those guys were on the roster last year and we didn't try them makes me skeptical that they would go with them next year.

Kyle is so headstrong on the OL it seems like, I have a hard time seeing him making a switch unless he has to

They are going to stick to their scheme which has meant leaner athletic guys that can get out in space in block but too often came at the expense of pass blocking. Puni was an exception. Hopefully they land another one.

[Pattersonca65]

This is an interesting part from this article.

Injuries caused Kittle to have the second-most pass-blocking snaps since 2020 last year. That also means Kittle had the lowest percentage of routes in the past few seasons.

Kittle is objectively one of the best eligible pass catchers in the NFL. If the decision to sign Farrell was directly tied to getting Kittle more involved in the passing game — especially with Brandon Aiyuk projected to miss some of the regular season — then Farrell’s value skyrockets.


https://www.ninersnation.com/2025/4/1/24398713/49ers-kyle-shanahan-luke-farrell-george-kittle

[clyde21]

i mean that's fine but does that mean we're just gonna be running a lot more two TE sets?

[CrimsonCrew]

Re: the other center candidates, Nugent had been in the system for a while by the end of the season. I just don't see a major downside to letting him get some live action snaps given how Brendel looked down the stretch.

Zakelj was actually pretty good when on the field last year. He's kind of the antithesis of Brendel in that he struggles as a run blocker (121st among OGs last year), but he's a good pass blocker (9th). It's possible a move to center might mitigate some of the struggles in the run game, but hard for me to say.

Part of my issue with Brendel and the run-first approach is that we seemed to be trying to shift our offensive approach late in 2023 and in 2024. We were much more pass-heavy, ran less play-action. The result was that our offense struggled. A lot of that has been attributed to Purdy, and some of that is fair, but the reality is that our OL and especially Banks and Brendel were disasters in pass-blocking.

[CrimsonCrew]

i mean that's fine but does that mean we're just gonna be running a lot more two TE sets?

Saubert played 35% of snaps last year (377), and Willis and Tonges combined fro another 5% more, so there's plenty of opportunity to be had without an increase in snaps for the position. Especially early on when we'll be without Aiyuk and possibly Demarcus Robinson (likely suspension), I don't have a huge problem leaning on the TE position a little more. Juszczyk is also better when he plays limited snaps.

[CrimsonCrew]

Somehow I missed that we added WR Isaiah Hodgins at the end of the season. Hodgins is an interesting guy. Good size, possession-type of receiver who had a solid season for the Giants in 2022 (traded from the Bills midseason and put up 351 yards and 4 TDs through eight games) before getting relegated to the bench and then the PS.

He's from the area (his dad is James Hodgins, the FB for the Rams' SB runs in '99 and '01), and I think a return home could lead to something of a resurgence in his career. Even if he's on the PS this year, I'd think he would be a prime contender to take over the big nickel spot next year if we lose Jennings.

[clyde21]

i mean that's fine but does that mean we're just gonna be running a lot more two TE sets?

Saubert played 35% of snaps last year (377), and Willis and Tonges combined fro another 5% more, so there's plenty of opportunity to be had without an increase in snaps for the position. Especially early on when we'll be without Aiyuk and possibly Demarcus Robinson (likely suspension), I don't have a huge problem leaning on the TE position a little more. Juszczyk is also better when he plays limited snaps.

reason I saw that is bencause I hope we don't start telegraphing our offense, pass when Kittle is in, run when Farrell is in

[CrimsonCrew]

i mean that's fine but does that mean we're just gonna be running a lot more two TE sets?

Saubert played 35% of snaps last year (377), and Willis and Tonges combined fro another 5% more, so there's plenty of opportunity to be had without an increase in snaps for the position. Especially early on when we'll be without Aiyuk and possibly Demarcus Robinson (likely suspension), I don't have a huge problem leaning on the TE position a little more. Juszczyk is also better when he plays limited snaps.

reason I saw that is bencause I hope we don't start telegraphing our offense, pass when Kittle is in, run when Farrell is in

Farrell is an elite pass blocker and basically an average run blocker. I think they brought him in primarily so Kittle could get out in routes more, but definitely his presence would not per se telegraph pass. Hopefully our OTs are solid enough that we don't have to help them out a lot when pass blocking.

[Samurai]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

Sorry to burst the bubble but this is what Kyle said about Brendal (from Niners Nation): “I thought Jake played well. When you study centers throughout the league, and things like that, I think Jake’s up there. When it comes to his pass protection, a lot of these guys get mismatched against head-up noses and some of the defensive tackles they have to go against.

I think Jake does as good in pass protection as anyone in this league. He’s always been a very good run player for us, too.”

The article relies on data from Sports Info Solutions to support Kyle's opinion, pointing out that Brendal had the third-lowest blown block percentage among all centers last season, and was tied for third in points earned and wins above replacement. And in pass protection, Brendal was tied for eighth among 25 centers that played 300+ snaps. And in the specific areas the Niners like to run (zone, duo, pass-pro), Brendal had the second-highest WAR among centers and was sixth in points earned above the average center.

When asked if the team plans to bring in competition for Brendal, Kyle said “I didn’t really look at it going in like Jake’s competing. I think Jake’s played at a pretty high level. I think our whole o-line has. It’s gonna be hard losing [Aaron] Banks. It’s gonna be hard losing Jaylon Moore, who has been a great swing tackle and got to play a lot with Trent [Williams] being down half of last year. So those are the things that we really need to replace.” The team did bring in Matt Hennessy but Kyle said that he looks at him to compete with Zekelj and Bartch at LG. Reading that, sounds like Brendal will again be our center whether the fans like it or not.

[CrimsonCrew]

I hope Lynch is just blowing smoke about the offensive line. I can kind of understand Mckivitz but not Brendal. And not sure about where the article gets Brendel being ranked 12th with blocking. For 2024, Brendel had a PFF pass blocking score of 55 which is bad. Brendel is ranked among the bottom starting centers in the league.

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/nfl-annual-meeting-john-lynch-colton-mckivitz/1838916/

I think we're fine with McKivitz starting. He was alright last year. Same can't be said for Brendel. He disrupted the whole offense with his inept pass blocking left year.

Sorry to burst the bubble but this is what Kyle said about Brendal (from Niners Nation): “I thought Jake played well. When you study centers throughout the league, and things like that, I think Jake’s up there. When it comes to his pass protection, a lot of these guys get mismatched against head-up noses and some of the defensive tackles they have to go against.

I think Jake does as good in pass protection as anyone in this league. He’s always been a very good run player for us, too.”

The article relies on data from Sports Info Solutions to support Kyle's opinion, pointing out that Brendal had the third-lowest blown block percentage among all centers last season, and was tied for third in points earned and wins above replacement. And in pass protection, Brendal was tied for eighth among 25 centers that played 300+ snaps. And in the specific areas the Niners like to run (zone, duo, pass-pro), Brendal had the second-highest WAR among centers and was sixth in points earned above the average center.

When asked if the team plans to bring in competition for Brendal, Kyle said “I didn’t really look at it going in like Jake’s competing. I think Jake’s played at a pretty high level. I think our whole o-line has. It’s gonna be hard losing [Aaron] Banks. It’s gonna be hard losing Jaylon Moore, who has been a great swing tackle and got to play a lot with Trent [Williams] being down half of last year. So those are the things that we really need to replace.” The team did bring in Matt Hennessy but Kyle said that he looks at him to compete with Zekelj and Bartch at LG. Reading that, sounds like Brendal will again be our center whether the fans like it or not.

Hopefully some of that is just coach-speak, but they sure didn't appear to make efforts to go after any of the viable starting centers this offseason.

I don't care what the metrics say. This is what I saw, over and over again last year:

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