It’s never a good sign when one team’s strength is matched up against one of your weaknesses; that is, unfortunately, the situation for the 49ers when we consider the offensive side of the battle in the trenches, one of the most important matchups in any game. When a team begins game-planning for the Carolina Panthers, they are immediately confronted by one of the best front-seven groups in the NFL, led by future Hall-of-Famers Luke Kuechly and Julius Peppers. The hope is that your offensive line can create seams in the run game and a clean pocket for your quarterback, but against the Carolina Panthers defensive line, you’ll need a quality group up front. Unfortunately, for the 49ers, that may not be the case heading into the 2017 season.
The 49ers offensive line is anchored by former all-pro left tackle Joe Staley, and while Staley ranked highly among tackles in 2016, age may be beginning to catch up with him, as he just had his worst season, especially from a pass-protection standpoint. Staley just turned 33 years old, and though the 6″5′ behemoth still has the speed and power to keep up with dominant defensive ends, the rotation of Mario Addison, Julius Peppers, Charles Johnson, and Wes Horton may tire him out over the course of four quarters. While Addison will be his main opponent, he’ll see some of Peppers and Johnson, in addition to a variety of other blitzers as Steve Wilks tries to confuse Staley and quarterback Brian Hoyer with multiple looks.
“…I feel like Trent Brown has a very bright future in the National Football League; he’s 6’8, he knows how to use his arms, knows how to use his wingspan, he has length. So I feel like, he’s young, and people haven’t really seen him, but I feel like he’s one of the better tackles in the National Football League.”
-Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller
Across from Staley at right tackle is Trent Brown, who has had trouble with his weight this offseason after reporting to mini-camp overweight in August. While Brown was called one of the best right tackles in the NFL by all-world linebacker Von Miller, he looked lost at times in Chip Kelly’s inside zone blocking scheme, and he looks to struggle again with new coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive plan, which is a similar gameplan that relies heavily on outside zone blocking. Succinctly, on an outside zone run, the tailback “aims” for the gap between the tackle and tight end as opposed to the ‘a’ or ‘b’ gap; the tackle must set the edge on outside zone runs. Brown’s lack of body control makes him a prime candidate to struggle when his weight and center of gravity are in the wrong place on run plays, often leading to the tackle being pushed out of plays by athletic defensive ends. He’s #77 in the play below, watch how he is out of position almost immediately on this zone read from last year, allowing Charles Johnson to blow up the play in the backfield; while Staley may be able to protect his edge, Peppers/Johnson vs. Brown is a battle the Panthers should win, especially if Brown can’t get his weight in the right place.
The interior linemen are led by center Daniel Kilgore and surrounded by Zane Beadles and Brandon Fusco. Fusco, who came to San Francisco from Minnesota via free agency in the offseason, should be an improvement over Joshua Garnett, as Garnett and Beadles produced some of the worst guard play in the league last season. Fusco is a better run blocker than a pass protector; the 49ers were able to improve one of their strengths from the 2016 season, as they were able to average more than four yards per carry. Those numbers are a touch deceiving, as running back Carlos Hyde gathered almost two-thirds (662 of 988) of his yardage after contact. If Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei can get a good push and make strong tackles at the point of contact, the Panthers should be able to contain the 49ers run game.
The most important person on the 49ers offensve line may not actually be a lineman at all, but new head coach Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan’s offensive gameplan, which led the Falcons to score the seventh-most points in NFL single-season history last season, uses pre-snap motion and the aforementioned outside-zone blocking scheme to confuse the defense and make life easier for his offensive linemen. “Kyle as ‘OC’ has been really fun to play for because the outside-zone scheme has been really friendly to offensive linemen,” Falcons center Alex Mack said about Shanahan last season. “We love running the ball as offensive linemen, and when you run the ball and have a coordinator committed to running it, it helps you on pass plays.” If the 49ers can implement Shanahan’s system and get the ball quickly out of Hoyer’s hands while getting their linemen to the next level against the Panthers defense, they can be successful.
For more on this game, check out our positional preview of the 49ers defensive line vs. the Panthers offensive line.
