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The 49ers Have Pro Football Focus’ Highest-Graded Tackle and Guard in Pass-Blocking
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- The 49ers Have Pro Football Focus’ Highest-Graded Tackle and Guard in Pass-Blocking
In past seasons, the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line was seen as a relative weakness of the team. While San Francisco has long boasted a living legend at left tackle in Trent Williams, it has been considered deficient elsewhere in that position group.
But this season, the offensive line has done a good job protecting quarterback Brock Purdy and creating lanes for star running back Christian McCaffrey. Purdy has often found himself with ample time to go through his progressions, and that has allowed him to play MVP-caliber football.
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Through six games, Purdy has completed 69.6% of his passing attempts and thrown for 1,460 yards and 14 touchdowns against just two interceptions.
Williams, even at age 38, is continuing to get the job done at a high level, and a young teammate on that offensive line could be turning into a star in his own right.
Two impressive numbers
According to Pro Football Focus , Williams has an 86.3 overall offensive grade this season, which is second only to Penei Sewell of the Detroit Lions among tackles. Williams also ranks first among tackles with an 87.9 pass-blocking grade.
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He hasn't allowed a single sack this season, and he has only allowed a total of five pressures in 329 offensive snaps played.
Meanwhile, PFF has third-year right guard Dominick Puni ranked 17th among guards with an overall offensive grade of 73.6. He has a pass-blocking grade of 82.4, which is higher than that of any other guard.
He started to show plenty of promise as a rookie, and after a bit of a sophomore slump last year, he has allowed zero sacks this year.
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As a team, the 49ers have PFF's highest pass-blocking grade at 81.4. They also rank fifth with a run-blocking grade of 73. This has allowed McCaffrey to go from averaging 3.9 yards per carry last year to 4.5 yards per carry this season.
San Francisco's pass protection will be tested on Sunday when they face the Atlanta Falcons, as the Falcons have potent pass rushers in Samson Ebukam and Za'Darius Smith. Williams will have to lead the way and get plenty of help for San Francisco to improve to 7-0.
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This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
