Last week, Ryan Van Bibber wrapped up rankings for the various defensive units, taking a look at defensive lines around the league. That wrapped up his rankings of each defensive unit, so the time has come to switch sides. Today, Ryan released his rankings of offensive lines around the NFL. After weeks of the 49ers ranking very highly in these articles, the other shoe is ready to drop.
Ryan opened up his offensive rankings by looking at offensive lines around the NFL. He has the 49ers ranked No. 19, with the Packers at the top and the Colts at the bottom. I provided a few comments to Ryan, but he handled the rankings.
As the 49ers head into the 2012 season, there are essentially three questions for the offensive line, although some might be able to be combined in a sense:
1. Can Alex Boone handle the right guard role?
2. Can Anthony Davis take a significant step forward at right tackle?
3. How will the backup offensive tackle work?
Question one and two could be dependent on each other to a certain extent. One of the arguments in support of Anthony Davis has been that he hasn't had any sort of consistency at the right guard position. If Boone can overcome any height issues that might impact his work at right guard, maybe that consistency will be there. Boone is a big dude, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with that.
The third question might end up being answered by Boone as well. This will also depend on how comfortable the team is with Daniel Kilgore. We could see all sorts of musical chairs action depending on how that backup tackle role works. This creates a fourth question of sorts as far as what kind of improvement we'll see from Kilgore. It leaves plenty to watch in the coming preseason.