Projecting the 49ers' Five Starting Offensive Linemen for Week 1

Eighty percent of the 49ers' starting offensive line is up in the air. Here's a projection of what it will look like Week 1.

Grant Cohn | Jun 5, 2022

Now that we know Alex Mack has retired and won't play this season, let's project the 49ers' five starting offensive linemen for Week 1.

The 49ers had to have known all offseason Mack was going to retire, which means they're prepared to replace him. They must have the plan. And the plan can't be to start journeyman backup Jake Brendel at center.

Here's my best guess at who will start on the offensive line in the season opener:

Left tackle: Trent Williams. This is the one position that's set in stone.

Left guard: Aaron Banks. The 49ers spent a second-round pick on him last year, so they'll give him the first shot to start. But if he struggles, they probably will replace him with Colton McKivitz, who at least is solid.

Center: Daniel Brunskill. He started eight games at center for the 49ers in 2020 before they signed Mack, so it would make sense that the 49ers would move Brunskill back to center now that Mack has retired. Brunskill isn't a particularly good center, but he's serviceable and a veteran.

Right guard: Jaylon Moore. The 49ers drafted him in Round 5 last year and he played well during the preseason. He probably has a better chance to keep his job than Banks. He also could play right tackle if the 49ers feel rookie Spencer Burford is ready to start at right guard.

Right tackle: Mike McGlinchey. Unless he's still injured. In that case, Justin Skule or Jaylon Moore most likely would start at right guard.

Published Jun 5, 2022

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.