San Francisco 49ers: A few players critical to team’s success in 2018
By Kevin Saito
Mike McGlinchey & Weston Richburg
Yeah, we’re cheating a little bit here by putting these two together. But, that’s because they’re being counted on in a big way to help upgrade an offensive line that has been – porous – the last couple of seasons.
Despite signing veteran center Daniel Kilgore to a three-year deal worth about $12 million dollars in February, when Richburg hit the market in March, GM John Lynch and HC Kyle Shanahan, thinking they had a chance to upgrade the position, were there to pounce.
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They signed the 26-year old Richburg to a five-year $47.5 million dollar deal – making him third in the league behind Tampa Bay’s Ryan Jensen and Jacksonville’s Brandon Linder.
San Francisco surprised some folks when they used the ninth-overall pick in this year’s Draft on Notre Dame standout tackle Mike McGlinchey. Although the team desperately needed a solid, reliable tackle to bookend with stalwart Joe Staley, many projections in the run up to the Draft had the 49ers looking to shore up weaknesses on the defense.
In McGlinchey, they’re getting a mountain of a man – six-foot-eight, 310 pounds – who’s quick, athletic, incredibly mobile and agile. Barring injury, he’ll step in right away and shore up the right side of that line, providing an immediate upgrade, and eventually, become the successor to the longtime veteran, Staley, on the left side of the line.
With a franchise quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo now in place, protection is even more critical to the team’s success. And a season after surrendering 43 total, San Francisco’s offensive line desperately needed an upgrade, which Richburg and McGlinchey will very likely provide.