Foerster details why 49ers don’t need to draft early-round linemen, where RG competition stands

The 49ers under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have drafted two offensive linemen in the first two rounds, both of whom, in Mike McGlinchey and Aaron Banks, are from Notre Dame.

With their other 11 first- and second-round picks, they have drafted four wide receivers, three defensive ends, a quarterback, a defensive tackle, a corner and a linebacker.

They clearly see some value in drafting offensive linemen early, but the prevailing consensus seems to be that value can be found in the middle-to-late rounds. That was reinforced loud and clear by offensive line coach/run game coordinator Chris Foerster on Wednesday.

Now, Foerster made abundantly clear that these were his views, and his views alone. But let’s not pretend that a man who first worked with Shanahan in Washington, and who is his most trusted lieutenant, is silent during the draft process. They care what he thinks. And what he thinks is that you should draft players who touch the ball. And the 49ers’ four wide receiver selections in the first two rounds reflect that sentiment.

“This is my personal opinion, if they ask me: invest in guys that touch the ball, guys that can touch the ball and score touchdowns,” Foerster 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 [early]? 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. How dominant is the difference between pick 34 versus pick 54, in offensive line play? And that's what you're trying to balance.”

Foerster, as usual, went much longer on the subject, fired up by the value debate between taking skill position players versus building up the offensive line early. He said the 49ers are absolutely willing to draft offensive linemen earlier on, but that if you ask him, he wants a guy that touches the ball.

He gave an excellent, if not hilarious example (given that he is an offensive line coach), using Deebo Samuel.

“The fact that you can throw a short pass to Deebo [Samuel], even though the right tackle's getting beat, it ends up being a 60-yard touchdown,” Feorster said. “So yeah, the right tackle blocks somebody, but if the guy gets tackled at five yards, you don't have the 60-yard touchdown. ‘Boy that right tackle did a great job.’ What's it matter if the guy touching the ball can't take it to the house? So, there's the trade off and you're constantly playing that game.”

Foerster clearly believes in his own ability to teach and develop talent. He also offered a sentiment about how you find that late-round talent, and how to comprehend functional versus dysfunctional offensive line play. There is an invisible line that Foerster sees for delineating functional and disastrous offensive line play.

“There's a line below which that with offensive line play that if you just drop a little bit below it, it’s a gaping hole," Foerster said. "All of a sudden, you're like, ‘He can't block anybody.’ And now we got a major problem. But as long as they're at that line and just above it, you can survive it and you can take care of them.”

“The offensive line play, we've talked about it before, consistency, talent, all the ability in the world, but when it comes down to the things happening quickly, being consistent, play in and play out, understanding the offense, how the defense plays it,” Foerster said. “Every little intricate piece of this thing, it's not just about pass blocking and run blocking. There's so much that goes into it that you just miss a little detail, a little adjustment. And a lot of times it's things that come up that I can't cover. You have to understand and embrace the concept of the play or whatever we're doing. So, to know that… ‘if I follow my rules, this is where it takes me.’ And that's what we're looking for. That's one of the things that all these guys we took this year… Those guys in the offensive line, they got to have that thing, that thing that they can figure it out.”

That led to a discussion about what Spencer Burford needs to do to win the right guard spot, or perhaps even make the roster. Foerster said that mental aspect is more important on the interior of the offensive line than at the tackle spots, and that Burford, bluntly, was not succeeding in that regard. He was, in short, a liability, as he proved in a potentially Super Bowl-losing protection breakdown.

“So that's what we're looking for in that position right now,” Foerster said. “That's how a guy like [OL Jon] Feliciano played with just a little more consistency. And was it a lot? No.

“Spencer came to me when we didn't put him back in the lineup, he goes, ‘Coach, am I playing?’ I said, ‘no, but it's two or three plays. It's just two, it's not many. Everybody else is grading here and you're just, those two or three plays a game.’

“And you just don't know when they're going to show up and how they're going to show up. And so those two or three plays are just like, ‘gosh, we just got to get those two or three plays better.’ We're just looking for that consistency.

“Maybe it comes from Spencer this year. Obviously, he's the most talented of the players. I think he's as talented or more than Puni. Puni will push that from that. And Jon's just a guy that is a veteran, good player that knows how to get it done. Very savvy, good vet player. But these talented guys, when they figure it out and that's what you keep hoping. So maybe it comes from Spence, maybe it comes from Puni, maybe it comes from somebody else. I don't know where it comes from. But we're hoping we can get just a little more consistent play out of that position.”

That’s not exactly a rose-tinted assessment for Burford. Foerster acknowledged he’s got the highest upside, but has been too mistake-riddled to rely on. As for Puni, Foerster likened him to Aaron Banks in that he has some of the measurables the 49ers like, but not too much tape similar to what they do in their scheme. He said he will compete for the right guard spot and possibly be their fourth tackle. Center is unlikely for him right now.