It’s hard to find a more glaring weakness on the 49ers roster than their right tackle spot. That’s not to say the rest of their roster is perfect. Tight end depth is a problem and there’s still a question mark at right guard. There are also some depth questions at cornerback. Despite all that, right tackle still stands out as the position San Francisco needs to improve at the most if they want to shore up their chances of making another deep playoff run.
ESPN laid out the biggest roster hole for each NFL team and correctly hit that right tackle position for San Francisco. There’s not much of an argument to be made otherwise, so instead let’s see how they might go about filling that hole with the current assets on their roster.
The first option is getting improvement from McKivitz. This isn’t out of the question. Right tackle is his natural position, but he spent most of his first three NFL seasons playing guard or left tackle. Last year was his first chance to start and play RT full time. San Francisco’s priorities in the draft where they didn’t make a major effort to find a viable RT candidate indicate there’s at least some internal belief that McKivitz could be better in 2024 after a rough 2023 campaign.
There’s also a chance the team likes its internal depth in a competition setting with McKivitz. They signed veteran Brandon Parker in free agency who has experience at RT. Veteran Jon Feliciano has played some tackle in his career, and Spencer Burford (who appears to be losing his grip on the starting right guard job) played tackle in college. It’s more likely the battle will come down to McKivitz vs. Parker, but there are additional veteran options if the 49ers feel like they need to explore them.
Another route they could go is giving third-round pick Dominick Puni a shot there. He primarily played left tackle and left guard in college, and he projects as a guard in the NFL. However, he has enough physical tools to potentially compete at OT and that’s a stone the 49ers could certainly turn.
Finally, the club could look externally for more competition. While the free agent market has mostly dried up of viable OL candidates, there are still some players available with starting experience at RT who could offer competition and depth at the weakest spot on the roster.
The team will always say every position is up for grabs, but there are starters locked in at most spots on both sides of the ball. Right tackle is the shakiest spot on the 49ers’ offense though and their lack of firm answers for those question marks could be a real problem for them in their quest for a sixth Lombardi Trophy.
