SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- More than a week after the start of free agency, the San Francisco 49ers have finally brought in an outside free agent that figures to compete for a starting position.
A sexy position? Not necessarily.
One of need? Absolutely.
Veteran left guard Zane Beadles, who has started 94 of his 96 games and was a Pro Bowler for the Denver Broncos in 2012, should be in line to start for the Niners in the wake of Alex Boone’s departure for the Minnesota Vikings.
In fact, the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Beadles, who was a second-round pick of the Broncos out of Utah in 2010 but spent the past two seasons in Jacksonville, may be an upgrade over the 6-7, 330-pound Boone, who held out in Santa Clara and became a distraction.
Consider: Per Pro Football Focus, Beadles has played every snap in 79 of 80 regular-season games over the past five seasons, missing just nine snaps in that time frame.
His best season, per PFF, came in his Pro Bowl year, when his plus-17.1 grade ranked 16th of 81 guards.
Beadles’ overall grade, though, dropped from plus-1.5 in 2014 to minus-14.6 last season as the Jaguars moved away from a zone-blocking scheme. He was cut by Jacksonville on March 3, two years after going to the Jaguars on a five-year, $30 million contract.
With the Niners, who inked him to a three-year, $11.75 million contract, purportedly moving to a zone-blocking scheme under first-year coach Chip Kelly, that could portend a return to success for Beadles, who turns 30 in November.
Still, as PFF notes, his pass blocking is what declined the most last season, his 41 pressures allowed ranking fifth most among guards.
Others who could compete at left guard include Andrew Tiller, Marcus Martin and Brandon Thomas, with Erik Pears, Ian Silberman and even Tiller going at it at right guard, so long as “retired” right tackle Anthony Davis does indeed file his reinstatement papers, as he’s been saying he would do on social media.
As such, how does a Niners offensive line of LT Joe Staley, LG Beadles, C Daniel Kilgore, RG Tiller and RT Davis grab you?
Thus far, the only other “outside” free agent the Niners have signed is backup quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, though they have re-signed nose tackle Ian Williams and team MVP/kicker Phil Dawson since the new league year began.