In spite of injuries, the San Francisco 49ers need an offensive lineman badly, and La’el Collins is still a viable
option.
According to Bleacher Report, the 49ers might sign the player while guard Aaron Banks (toe) and tackles Trent Williams (groin) and Jaylon Moore (concussion) are still sidelined. Williams participated little on Wednesday and practiced on Thursday, while Moore and Banks did not practice on those days.
The staff of Bleacher Report stated, “Collins has experience playing guard and tackle, and it would be smart to have a proven veteran on hand as an insurance policy for the playoffs.”
Collins has started 86 games in his career, including three postseason games, while serving as a consistent starter for the Dallas Cowboys for four seasons. Collins was a member of the Cowboys from 2015 to 2021; in 2022, he moved to Cincinnati to play with the Bengals.
Collins injured his MCL and ACL late in the season, although he was able to play in 15 games for the Bengals the previous year. After spending time on the reserve/PUP list, the Bengals dismissed him in September, therefore his effort at a comeback this year was unsuccessful.
Cincinnati made the decision to free up $7.4 million in salary cap space. According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels in September, Collins drew interest from the New England Patriots, who happen to be the club that Collins got hurt against.
La’el Collins Declared Confidence in Reply
Collins told James Rapien, the All Bengals writer for Sports Illustrated, prior to the season that he fully intended to return to the field this year.
Collins told Rapien, “Every day, I’m able to do some different, and I can tell that my knee’s locked in there; it’s stable.” “It is not going to disappear.”
I mean, I visit here every day. I work a little bit harder. I’m starting to feel better. I get some slight strength. Collins said, “So we’ve just been piling good days on top of good days.”
Michael Schofield Additionally a 49ers Option
Collins is hardly the only free agency option the Niners should take into account.
Michael Schofield III was originally recommended as a possibility by Bleacher Report. In his career, he has also made 86 starts. Schofield last played for the Chicago Bears in 2022. He is most known for being a member of the Denver Broncos, who won the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in 2015.
Staff at Bleacher Report stated, “Schofield could potentially fill in for Banks or would at least be a good depth piece for San Francisco. He has experience playing every spot on the line, except for center.”
49ers’ Offensive Line Problems May Cause a Tight End to Cross Over
Charlie Woerner, the tight end, would go to the offensive line if the 49ers don’t have enough depth there on game day.
Chris Foerster, the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the 49ers, told reporters on Thursday that “we’d have to kind of makeshift that.”
“And it’s kind of funny, I was telling Trent this this morning because they’ve only recently gone to eight offensive linemen,” Foerster added. “When I got in the NFL there was, we always had eight up, but then special teams and everything else took over.” “So then we went to seven, everything became seven all of a sudden. So you had seven and very few times, probably three times in the course of 25, 30 years did you have to get to the some other position playing offensive line,” Foerster continued.
If the offensive line’s health and depth don’t improve quickly, San Francisco might have to take that course of action. More about Matthew Davis: Davis covers the NFL for Heavy.com, concentrating on the Tampa Bay Bucs, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers. Since 2016, he has also contributed to the StarTribune and covered Minnesota prep sports.
