Both Jerick McKinnon and Jimmy Garoppolo receive healthy Surrounding Talent boosts with the addition of athletic-freak T Mike McGlinchey. If one question lingered for a 49ers offense that’s burgeoning under Kyle Shanahan, it was a lackluster offensive line. The unit ranked was graded 20th by PFF in 2017, despite averaging the seventh-highest in yards before contact for runners (1.86). The glaring hole was RT Trent Brown, who struggled mightily, especially in run-blocking, and McGlinchey is going to fill this to perfection. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlien described McGlinchey as a “very fluid athlete with background as tight end” with “natural movements and able to make cross-face and cut-off blocks.” This fits Shanahan’s Zone Blocking Scheme to perfection, as this requires blockers who can move and seal off “zones,” both at the point of attack and down the field.
Thus, Jerick McKinnon sees a healthy boost, with lanes to be even more open, and a freakish athlete who’ll dominate downfield in the screen game. Meanwhile, Jimmy Garoppolo now has his protection bookended by two beastly tackles in McGlinchey and Joe Staley. More time is nothing but a positive, for both Garoppolo as well as surrounding weapons like Marquise Goodwin and George Kittle. All-in-all, the rising 49ers are plugging their most gaping holes, and all fantasy ships are rising with less leakage.
