Mike McGlinchey continues building on strong rookie season

There were plenty of Nick Mullens highlights on Thursday, but one of my favorite plays was when 49ers running back Raheem Mostert scampered 51 yards for his first career touchdown. He benefited from some shoddy Raiders tackling, but the best part of the run might have been seeing right tackle Mike McGlinchey providing lead blocking the entire run. He remained in between Mostert and safety Marcus Gilchrist the entire way.

On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan joked about the play. Shanahan was asked about McGlinchey blocking the whole way downfield, and if that was exactly how it was drawn up.

“No. He wanted to get on TV longer, so he stayed up. He should’ve thrown early in the play, taken the guy’s legs out on the edge. I think the O-Line gave him the showoff fine for trying to be on TV following him down the field for so long. No, I’m just joking. He did a hell of a job. It was awesome.”

It was another solid week for McGlinchey, who has been consistently among the best run-blocking tackles in the league, and is showing improvement in pass blocking. Pro Football Focus included him on their midseason all-rookie team, and offered a case for him being a darkhorse rookie of the year candidate.

Offensive linemen don’t win rookie of the year awards, but McGlinchey is almost a lock to claim a spot on the first team all-rookie rosters media outlets release after the season. It remains to be seen what the future brings, but for one season, the 49ers first round pick is an absolute home run.