Coach Kyle Shanahan believes guard Aaron Banks will be ready for a starting role on the 49ers’ offensive line this season.
Why is he so certain?
Because Shanahan thought the 2021 second-round pick from Notre Dame was ready at the midpoint of his rookie season.
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SIGN UP HERE “We’re very confident,” Shanahan said at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. “The way that he finished last year, he was ready to go.
“We almost made a move and put him in, but we kind of went on a win streak and were jelling as a team. If you’d asked me halfway through if he was going to be playing, I would’ve said, ‘Yes.’ And then things started clicking for our team and we didn’t want to mess it up. But he’s ready to go.”
The 49ers won just three of their first eight games of the season before getting hot and entering the postseason as winners of seven of their final nine regular-season games.
Banks suited up for only nine games as a rookie and played only five offensive snaps the entire season — fewer than every second-round draft pick in the league other than Tampa Bay third-string quarterback Kyle Trask.
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Daniel Brunskill started every game at right guard for the 49ers. Laken Tomlinson had perhaps his best NFL season at left guard and recently signed a lucrative contract as a free agent with the New York Jets.
Tomlinson’s departure opens the door for Banks to take over as a starter at left guard. Another second-year player, Jaylon Moore, is also being considered to compete for a starting job at one of the guard positions.
Shanahan spoke to the difficulty of developing rookie offensive linemen when teams generally practice three days a week once the games begin. Teams scale back contact at practices as the season progresses.
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“So guys really got to be motivated to do stuff after practice and get with our coaches to do all the work,” Shanahan said. “It’s over-detailed, but you got to do it because you’re not getting the reps.
“What I liked with Banks, and even Jaylon Moore, both of those guys, they were hungry out there. I always saw them working. I always see them ready for the opportunity, and I think this year they’re going to get it.”