PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jake Brendel has been maligned by part of the 49ers fan base, but Kyle Shanahan believes San Francisco’s center is doing a commendable job.
The 49ers coach spoke in an open session Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting and shared his thoughts on the veteran offensive lineman, who has been widely criticized by those outside of team headquarters.
“I thought Jake played well,” Shanahan said. “When you study centers throughout the league, you watch all these guys, I think Jake is up there. When it comes to his pass protection, a lot of these guys get mismatched against, ahead of noses, so the D-tackles they have to go against, I think Jake does protection as good as anyone in this league.
“And I think he’s always been a very good run player for us, too.”
Brendel’s Pro Football Focus grades for the 2024 NFL season support Shanahan’s claim that the 32-year old is one of the league’s better interior blockers. Among centers who played at least 800 snaps, Brendel ranked 12th in the NFL with a 65.0 grade for his overall blocking.
Brendel is ranked a little lower at No. 19 (55.1) in pass protection, but is slated much higher at eighth in the league in run blocking with a 71.6 grade. Brendel’s 26 overall pressures (one sack, three hits and 22 hurries) are tied for the ninth-most combined pressures, but second from the lowest in sacks allowed.
At the end of the 2024 campaign, the 49ers added interior lineman Matt Hennessy to the roster, but Shanahan clarified the move was more for depth than an open competition with Brendel.
“I didn’t really look at it going in that it as Jake is competing,” Shanahan said. “Jake is playing at a pretty high level. I think our while O-line has. Getting Hennessy there at the end of the year, I’ve always loved him at center, he’s been a great guard.
“We do have an open spot with some open competition there. But we will see how that all plans out with that.”
The 49ers likely will ass more offensive line depth in the 2025 NFL Draft at the end of the month, but from the tone of Shanahan’s comments, it’s doubtful that will happen before the third round.
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