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The 49ers used a third-round pick on guard Dominick Puni this year and that represented a departure from recent trends for the team.
Puni is only the third offensive lineman drafted in the first three rounds — they also included a third-round pick in a trade for left tackle Trent Williams — since General Manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the team in 2017. One might think that the coach in charge of the unit might prefer more investments up front, but offensive line coach Chris Foerster said otherwise this week.
Foerster said those choices are made by Lynch and Shanahan, but his advice to them would be to continue focusing on other areas early in the draft.
“Invest in guys that touch the ball, guys that can touch the ball and score touchdowns,” Foerseter said. “And then there’s a range of guys, second, third, fourth round, fifth round even, that we will find starting offensive linemen in. At some point can you draft them? Yeah, you draft Trent Williams. You pick a draft where you’re getting a difference maker. But there’s guys that can make a difference, that touch the ball, well into the second, third, fourth rounds, or second and third rounds, at least. And definitely in the first round. That guy that touches the ball, it makes a huge difference in the game. The right guard makes a difference, we’ve talked about it before, but that’s where we’re able to find fourth and fifth round draft picks.”
The 49ers have proven capable of developing and holding onto linemen in recent years and they have Williams, left guard Aaron Banks, center Jake Brendel, right guard Jon Feliciano, and right tackle Colton McKivitz back this year. As long as they can keep doing that, there’s not likely to be much deviation from the current approach.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/49ers-ol-coach-chris-foerster-181103936.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-05-30 18:11:03
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