There’s one player the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t afford to lose on the offensive side of the ball for an extended time. That’s left tackle Trent Williams, one of the best all-around players in the NFL today.
Unfortunately, that’s now come to fruition. Williams was injured during San Francisco’s brutal loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced one day following the defeat that Williams has suffered a high-ankle sprain and will be out for some time.
While it’s too early to tell how long the future Hall of Famer will be out of action, a starting-off point for an injury of this ilk would be a month. To say that this is brutal news for a 1-2 49ers team that’s about to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams would be an understatement.
There’s not many internal options for San Francisco to roll with. Both Jaylon Moore and Colton McKivitz saw action at left tackle once Williams went down Sunday evening. Moore allowed a sack on his first snap protecting Jimmy Garoppolo. It’s in this that Shanahan noted on Monday McKivitz would get the start against Los Angeles.
Williams’ injury adds another element to a questionable 49ers offensive line with San Francisco set to welcome Aaron Donald and Co. to Levi’s Stadium next Monday night. Below, we look at three options for San Francisco to mask these massive issues.
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San Francisco 49ers must go run-heavy until Trent Williams returns from injury
Shanahan deserves a lot of blame for San Francisco’s ugly 11-10 loss to Denver on Sunday night. The 49ers found themselves up 7-3 at halftime and by two points heading into the fourth quarter. For some reason, Shanahan opted to abandon the run game with San Francisco’s defense dominating Russell Wilson and the Broncos’ offense.
Jeff Wilson averaged 6.3 yards per rush throughout the game. Despite this, Wilson ran the ball just three times in the second half. In the midst of a brutal performance himself, Garoppolo threw the ball 13 times. Relying on a quarterback who didn’t have any training camp reps to lead a pass-first offense while holding the lead for the majority of the game didn’t make sense. Doing so when your franchise left tackle is sidelined made even less sense. This can’t be the case against the Rams in Week 4.
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San Francisco 49ers can rely on their defense
This goes to the previous point. Why not play ball-control offense with a limited Garoppolo under center? It’s proven to be successful over the years with the quarterback “leading” San Francisco to two NFC Championships Games and a Super Bowl appearance over the past three seasons.
This iteration of the 49ers’ defense is even better than what we’ve seen over the past three seasons. To put into perspective how good the unit has been through three weeks, San Francisco’s defense has yielded all of 28 points. Opposing quarterbacks boast a 74.2 passer rating against this unit. Charvarius Ward (28.2 QB rating allowed), Nick Bosa (league-high 11 QB hits) and Talanoa Hufanga (50% completion allowed) have been dominant. Play controlled football on offense, limit the mistakes and force other teams to go the length of the field. These are three keys to the 49ers turning around their season with Trent Williams sidelined.
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San Francisco 49ers front office can actually make a trade
San Francisco currently has enough in-season cap room to fix these offensive line issues through the trade market. It’s an avenue general manager John Lynch has pursued throughout his career in Northern California. The team also has obvious needs at all three spots along the offensive line (tackle, guard and center).
Why not call the New England Patriots up about former first-round pick Isaiah Wynn? In the short-term, he could replace Williams at left tackle. Once San Francisco’s best player returns to action later in the season, Wynn could either slide inside to guard or replace a struggling right tackle in Mike McGlinchey. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Facing the possibility of dropping to 1-3, the 49ers are at that point.