Is Jon Feliciano Able to Maintain the 49ers’ Offensive Line’s Right Side?
The entire right side of the offensive line is by far one of the 49ers’ weaker points.
49ERS of San Francisco
The entire right side of the offensive line is by far one of the 49ers’ weaker points.
Spencer Burford, the right guard, and Colton McKivitz, the right tackle, are total wastes. Apart from whiffing blocks, they don’t accomplish anything really noteworthy. Given the lack of viable alternatives to take his place at right tackle, McKivitz is probably going to stay the starter.
However, there is an alternative option at right guard. It comes in the shape of seasoned left guard Jon Feliciano, who just finished his first season as a starter. He did a great job filling in for Aaron Banks, who was recovering from a toe injury. That’s about all you can say about Burford, who is considered one of the NFL’s worst guards by Pro Football Focus. It makes sense that Kyle Shanahan would choose to start Feliciano over him; he had this thought prior to the Jaguars game.
“Nothing against Spencer, but I wanted to make sure that Jon knew that we were aware of how well we thought he had been doing,” stated Shanahan. “I merely told him about it and had intended to follow through on it. Hadn’t considered our plan of action yet. I simply felt that he had a right to spend some time outside. Sadly, Aaron was harmed, but we didn’t check into it more because we knew he would be back this week and every week after that.
Is Feliciano able to stabilise the 49ers offensive line on the right side?
Certainly.
From here, it can only get higher, right? Furthermore, it appears that Feliciano will replace Burford as an immediate upgrade following the Jaguars game. There is a dire need for the 49ers to be more consistent. They are not a particularly good pass-rushing team, so it might not have been a problem against the Jaguars. Throughout the entire game, a strong defensive line will cause havoc.
The 49ers’ right side of the offensive line will be a problem when they play the Seahawks and Eagles in the near future. Hopefully Feliciano will enable them to hide part of that vulnerability. The only position they can really modify is right guard because they can’t really replace McKivitz unless they play Jaylon Moore out of position there.
Feliciano is set to start at right guard for the 49ers for the first time this week when they play the Buccaneers.
