49ers’ Trent Williams is NFL’s standard at offensive tackle
Trent Williams is good. Like, really good. He might wind up going down as the best left tackle to ever play in the NFL, and at Age 33 he’s still setting the standard at perhaps the second most important position on offense.
Both ESPN and its group of more than 50 executives, scouts, coaches and players voted Williams the top tackle in the NFL. Our very own Touchdown Wire did the same in their OT rankings.
Here’s what ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote about the 49ers’ star LT:
Pro Football Focus gave him an outrageous 97.8 rating in 2022, his 92.3% pass block win rate was ninth among tackles, and he didn’t allow a single sack. One knock on Williams is he occasionally misses in the open field — his seven run-game whiffs last season were the most among the tackles who made the list — but that’s a small toll for his splash playmaking.
“He’s the most talented for sure, but he is a true student of the game with great passion for improving and an extremely smart player as well,” an NFC executive said. “He’s the total package.”
The 49ers landing Williams for a 2020 fifth-round pick and a 2021 third-round choice during the 2020 draft helped them quickly move past Joe Staley’s retirement. While there was a hope Williams could return to form after missing all of the 2019 campaign, he’s exceeded even the loftiest expectations set.
While San Francisco struggles to find consistency on the interior of its offensive line and at right tackle, Williams’ presence and dominance on the left side will always give the 49ers an advantage in the trenches.
