When the San Francisco 49ers didn’t have Trent Williams in the lineup, they defaulted to Austen Pleasants. The same Pleasants who appeared in a pair of meaningless games for the Niners at the end of the 2024 season, once they were eliminated from the playoffs, would be tasked with starting against a pair of playoff teams to end the season.
Pleasants was serviceable for a start against the Chicago Bears, but they were one of the luckiest teams in the league, which offered little to no pass rush. The
task was much more difficult against one of the best defensive lines in the NFL the ensuing week.
Pleasants had a blown block rate of 1.5 percent against the Bears. The next week against Seattle, that number was 7.1 percent. Kyle Shanahan did everything in his power to hide Pleasants and limit his role, and he was still overmatched.
Williams turns 38 on July 19. In a dream world, he starts every game, and we’re not talking about him missing time. But in the event that Williams misses any kind of time, the 49ers went out and made sure they have a veteran with experience. Enter, Vederian Lowe.
Basic Info
Age: 27
Experience: 4 accrued seasons
Height: 6’6
Weight: 320 pounds
Cap Status
Lowe signed a two-year deal worth $9.5 million. He received $5.75 in fully guaranteed compensation, including a $2.76 million signing bonus. The two-year deal might be an implication of how the team feels about Lowe. His contract is the 29th-highest for all left tackles.
The 49ers added three void years in Lowe’s contract to help spread out his signing bonus. They’ll pay him $552,000 over five years. Lowe also has a $2.61 million option bonus. That’s spread out in $522,000 payments from 2027 through 2031.
Lowe’s experience provides peace of mind
Pleasants has 186 career snaps. Lowe topped that number with the Patriots last season in three games. For his career, Lowe has played 1,529 snaps. For reference, starters who don’t miss time generally play around 1,000-1,100 snaps in a season. So, the 2022 draft pick has effectively played a season and a half of snaps across four seasons.
That experience should provide peace of mind if Lowe’s number is called. He’s the kind of player who can fill in in a pinch, but isn’t someone you want starting for long stretches.
Lowe’s frame is something the Niners covet. His arm length was in the 93rd percentile coming out of college, and his hand size was in the 79th percentile.
Penalties were not a problem in 2025, as Lowe only had two false starts. They were, however, when he played 749 snaps in 2024. Lowe had 11 penalties: 5 holding, 5 false starts, and 1 “other.”
Statistically, Lowe was better when he played more in 2024. He had a blown-block rate of 4.3 in 2024 compared to 6.3 in 2025. Most of his struggles happen in pass protection. In the previous two seasons, 42 of his 50 blown blocks have happened in pass protection.
Digging a little deeper, there were really only two blemishes last season. Lowe struggled against the Giants and Ravens. In 2024, he had rough games against the Bears, Bills, Rams, and Cardinals. You don’t want to see NFC West teams on there, but it’s noteworthy.
