To say the 49ers’ guards didn’t play well on Sunday would be an understatement. According to Pro Football Focus, both starters Brandon Fusco and Zane Beadles were two of the worst performing players at their position in Week 1, with Beadles actually finishing dead last amongst the 63 offensive guards that saw significant playing time last Sunday.
We knew guard was one of the weakest positions for the 49ers heading into the season, but it’s hard to see how San Francisco will be able to run the ball at all with their current personnel, gaining just 51 yards rushing on 3.4 yards per carry against the Panthers. At this point, the 49ers should be willing to throw in anyone they feel might have a chance at providing some stability to their interior offensive line. That’s why it should come as no surprise that recently acquired guard Laken Tomlinson took the field with the first team offense in the place of Beadles at practice on Thursday, according to Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
Laken Tomlinson lined up at LG with #49ers first-string unit in warmups, FWIW. Joe Staley talked highly of him today.
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 14, 2017
The 49ers acquired Tomlinson, 25, in a trade with the Lions a day before their final preseason game. San Francisco is banking on Tomlinson’s potential, he was a first-round pick in 2015, rather than his performances on the field, as he also graded as one of the worst offensive guards in football over the past two season’s via PFF.
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have their fingers crossed that he can turn things around in San Francisco, and help mitigate what could become an unsolvable problem for the 49ers this season. For what it’s worth, veteran left tackle Joe Staley had good things to say about the young lineman after Thursday’s practice, even comparing him to a former 49ers All-Pro.
“He’s very eager to learn,” Staley told Inman. “He’s a great guy in our offensive line room. You see on the field he’s really stoutly, powerly built. He reminds me a little bit of Mike (Iupati). His feet are very quick, so you can see why he was a top pick (in the 2015 first round by the Lions) and why we tried to get him here.”
With how bad Beadles was on Sunday, and has been throughout his career, expect to see Tomlinson take the field with the first string offense when the 49ers face maybe the best front seven in all of football in Seattle on Sunday.