San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't have a rule against drafting offensive linemen early. He just doesn't believe in doing it for the sake of doing it.
Speaking with NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco, the 49ers head coach laid out the thinking behind a roster-building approach that has leaned on Day 2 and Day 3 picks up front. San Francisco hasn't used a first- or second-round pick on a lineman since Aaron Banks went No. 48 overall in 2021. Shanahan said he has faith in offensive line coach Chris Foerster in developing talent, but he was quick to add a caveat.
"Chris is as good of a coach as there is," Shanahan said. "But it doesn't just mean that, hey, give him whatever and he's going to turn him into stuff. You've got to get
the right guys."
Shanahan said finding those guys is a collaboration between Foerster and the personnel department, and that the approach isn't a blanket stance against early linemen. He noted there wasn't a lineman he loved available at No. 27 in the 2026 draft, and that the ones he does love rarely last past the middle of the first round.
The real question, he explained, is how big the gap is between the best lineman on the board at a given pick and the one the team expects to find on Day 2.
"Man, Chris, myself, some personnel guys, we think that guy in the third round might be this close to being as good," Shanahan said. "So why would we do that when we can go get a guy who can rush the quarterback, a guy who can touch the football?"
Shanahan also pushed back on the league-wide habit of taking linemen simply because they're safe. Shanahan said he thinks a lot of teams draft offensive linemen just to draft them, since it rarely draws criticism and the players seldom flame out entirely. But a first-round lineman who plays like a fourth-rounder is still a starter, he said, and there isn't much separation until you find a true star.
"If it's a Pro Bowl type dude, hell yeah, that guy's so worth it," Shanahan said.
Passing on linemen early, in his view, is what lets the 49ers add pass rushers and skill players who can score touchdowns. It helped, too, that the 49ers were able to trade for Trent Williams, one of the best offensive linemen of all-time, and develop some Day 2 players like Jake Brendel, Colton McKivitz and Dominick Puni.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan explains why 49ers rarely draft offensive linemen early
