Jake Brendel keeps giving the 49ers reasons to trust him, even if plenty of fans still want to see the team look elsewhere.
By PFF’s numbers, Brendel has been one of the league’s most improved players over the last three seasons. In fact, he’s one of only four players to have his grade rise in all three of those seasons while being older than 30. That kind of steady climb is hard to ignore, especially for a player who has spent so much of his career fighting for another chance.
The skepticism makes sense on the surface. Brendel was a UDFA, so simply sticking in the NFL in 2016 counted as a win.
He spent 2016-18 with the Miami Dolphins before being let go, then landed on a practice squad in 2019 and bounced around a few different rosters. He also opted out of football in 2020.
The 49ers still took a chance on him in 2021, even though he had almost no playing experience over the previous two years and had been out of the NFL for one. That season didn’t immediately settle anything, either. He was a reserve and practice squad option, and even San Francisco cut him in 2021.
But once Brendel got his opening as a starter in 2022, he ran with it. He has now opened four straight seasons as the 49ers’ center, and his performance has improved each year.
His first season in the role produced a 62.9 grade, which did little to quiet the people who wanted the team to move on. After his fourth NFL season, that number had climbed to 70.4.
That’s where the divide lives: fans see a journeyman who will be 34 during the upcoming season and has more time as an end-of-the-roster reserve than as a proven starter. The coaching staff sees a player who fits what they want to do and has made the most of every opportunity he’s been given.
Next year will bring another layer to it. Brendel will be a year older, and he’s set to hit free agency after the season.
The 49ers also don’t have a future replacement already waiting on the roster. If he keeps playing at this level, San Francisco could find itself in a familiar spot - weighing whether to extend him and wondering whether the fan base will be on board.
In Other News...
The 5 Most Underappreciated 49ers Of The Shanahan Era
Kyle Shanahans run in San Francisco has produced plenty of familiar stars, but the conversation around the 49ers often leaves out the players who made the whole thing work a little smoother. Emmanuel Sanders helped steady a young receiving group, Matt Breida gave the backfield burst and intrigue, Arik Armstead spent years taking on the kind of interior work that rarely shows up in highlight packages, and Dre Greenlaw became one of the defenses defining presence in the middle of the field.
Kyle Juszczyk sits in that same conversation for a different reason. His role has never been easy to pin down with basic numbers, which is part of why he can be overlooked even after nine seasons of being so useful in so many ways, and the case for him only gets stronger when the 49ers are being measured against the NFLs best teams. The broader point in ranking the most underappreciated players of the Shanahan era is that San Franciscos success has been built not just on headliners, but on a handful of trusted pieces whose value becomes obvious only when they are missing. [Read more 🡒]
John Lynch Could Be Weighing A Surprising 49ers Trade Before Week 1
With Week 1 approaching, the 49ers are still in the kind of roster-shaping period when one phone call can change the equation. John Lynch has shown in the past that he will listen if a move helps the bigger picture, and this group has a few spots where San Francisco has enough depth to at least consider whether a veteran or a younger player might bring back value before the season gets rolling.
The clearest intrigue sits in the secondary and behind center, where the 49ers have bodies and competition that could make a deal more realistic than it first appears. Nothing feels imminent, and no one around the team is treating a move as the most likely outcome, but if another club comes calling with the right offer, Lynch may have a decision to make before the opener. [Read more 🡒]
John Lynch May Still Have One More 49ers Upgrade In Mind
With the offseason still offering a chance to nudge the roster in the right direction, John Lynch is again being linked to the kind of trade market the 49ers have not been shy about exploring. The speculation is straightforward enough: San Francisco has needs to weigh, and the front office has long shown a willingness to scan around the league for help if the price and fit make sense.
Among the names floated are a possible addition at safety and another option at running back, along with a more ambitious pass-rush swing that would be harder to pull off. For a team that has spent years trying to keep its window open, the interesting part is not whether Lynch will look, but how far he is willing to go to land one more upgrade before next season gets here. [Read more 🡒]