The 49ers’ starting offensive line is a solid group. While there are certainly question marks, especially with first-time starter Colton McKivitz, there has been a general level of competency at every position occupied by players not named Trent Williams.
After that, it’s murky.
The two veteran names that feel very likely to make the roster are Jon Feliciano and Matt Pryor. Feliciano is making $3.25 million this season to effectively be the go-to interior offensive line backup. Pryor, as general manager John Lynch said, was brought in to be the team’s swing tackle
Outside of them, no one has staked a clear claim for a roster spot. Even Pryor is not a roster lock, though offensive line coach/run game coordinator Chris Foerster indicated on Thursday that the 49ers like what they have in Pryor.
He’s a hulking, 6-foot-7-inch, more than 350-pound offensive lineman who is far more of a power pass protector than he is an effective run blocker. From Foerster’s perspective, that’s a preferable dynamic:
He’s doing a great job protection wise. You’re right, in the run game, he’s not a prototypical guy. But I think over the course of time, what I found out, is even though it’s not exactly what this offense usually has for tackle, guard, center, if you just keep drilling, just keep going. Just keep doing it. They keep working on keeping their weight, working on their quickness, and eventually you can find a middle ground.
Is he ever gonna be the typical tackle in this offense? No. But being able to play on third down and just being functional enough on first and second down as a run blocker can be good enough. That third down piece of pass protection is a big piece. If you can’t play on third down, you can’t play as an offensive lineman.
So having that down, we can work back. I’ve coached a few different times in my career where you just come to a new place. You have two or three guys that really can’t do the things you asked them to do but just keep doing it, getting reps in games, reps in practice, they can be good enough.
So if it’s the starting five plus Felicano and Pryor, who’s next on the list? Will anyone else make the initial 53-man roster?
Foerster didn’t exactly rave about about most of the young group of backups competing for roster spots, but he was asked about the undrafted group of tackle Ilm Manning and interior linemen Corey Luciano and Joey Fisher and singled one of them out:
They all had first game issues. They didn’t play as well as they could’ve. There were some mental errors, some breakdowns. Ilm, of the three guys, Ilm has really played really well in this camp.
I don’t know that his long-term career is as a tackle, but he’s played very well there and you’re right, he doesn’t quite fit the prototype, but he’s done a good job.
He’s got really good bend, flexibility, balance things that you need inside. He’s got good quickness. He’ll have to learn to just be quicker. Little things, happen, the steps have to be shorter. He still sometimes kicks bigger like a tackle, he needs to keep his feet underneath him a little more to play guards. It’s more quickness, I don’t want to say quickness. It’s more of just your footwork has to be — everything has to happen a little bit quicker at guard. And that’s what Ilm may have to learn if he makes the transition.
Manning has clearly piqued the interest of the coaching staff, and his potential flexibility to shift inside could make him more enticing than the host of other options who have underwhelmed while being stuck at one position.
It wasn’t a glowing review, but there hasn’t really been cause for glowing reviews in the depths of the offensive line. The following two preseason games will go a long way in deciding who carves out a roster spot.