Was the 49ers’ offensive line as bad as some fans thought?

As the dust settles on the 2020 NFL season, 49ers fans are left to wonder if Tom Brady could have done the same thing for them as he did for the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While there’s no way to know for sure, a common refrain among the doubters is that the 43-year-old Brady would not have been able to survive behind an inconsistent 49ers offensive line. Niner Nate and Leo Luna examined that narrative with special guest Brad Graham in today’s Niners Nate-tion Podcast.

Graham was pretty certain another quarterback wouldn’t have put himself in a situation where he was under constant pressure.

“Part of the misconception with QB pressures is a lot of that is dictated by the quarterback and not necessarily the offensive line. All these plays are timed. They’re very timing specific. If you don’t hit that timing, and then you’re searching for your next read or your don’t have your hot route indicated ahead of time, that throws everything out of control...49ers quarterbacks weren’t delivering the ball on time. They weren’t finding their hot reads, and they weren’t identifying blitzes and pressures.

Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens, and CJ Beathard took 39 sacks this season, and contrary to popular opinion, they weren’t all Mike McGlinchey’s fault. You have to believe a more experienced quarterback would have gotten out of at least some of them, which could have extended drives and ultimately lead to more points.

How much difference that would have made is up for debate, but you should check out the entire conversation here and in the player below.

Other topics in today’s episode

• Would Brady have been able to get the 49ers to the Super Bowl?
• What do we do with Mike McGlinchey?
• How good is Carson Wentz, and what would you give up to get him?