San Francisco 49ers: Who Will Replace Anthony Davis?

With Anthony Davis' sudden retirement, the San Francisco 49ers find themselves with yet another starting spot to fill.  While Davis has said that he may return in a year or two, that doesn’t help the 49ers in 2015, as they now have to replace two solid starters on an offensive line that was already rocked and injury-plagued last season. Davis shared his thoughts regarding returning via Twitter:

"

I'll be back in a year or so.. I'll be 26 or 27 years old. Im taking this time to allow my Brain and Body time to heal and recoup.

— Anthony Davis (@BamDavis_) June 5, 2015"

With this move coming after both free agency and the draft, there’s not much time for the 49ers to actually respond to Davis’ retirement.

The top free agent they signed along the offensive line is ex-Buffalo Bill Erik Pears, who has moved around at both guard and tackle during his eight-year NFL career.  Having a veteran presence like Pears seems, at first blush, to be a positive sign—veterans often can be slid into new lineups with a minimum of fuss.  However, Pears' recent history at tackle has not precisely been one worth celebrating.

When Pears was signed, Buffalo Rumblings’ Brian Galliford provided this scouting report to Niners Nation:

"Availability and consistency are Pears' strong suits, even if he is consistently bad. If I were in charge of putting together a quality offensive line depth chart, Pears would not be on my radar."

This is obviously not the most thrilling recommendation one could ever have, and this subjective viewpoint is somewhat backed up by Pears' Pro Football Focus grades over the past few seasons:

YEAR	TEAM	POSITION	Pass Block	Run Block	Overall
2014	BUF	RG	-15.1	-11.5	-25.0
2013	BUF	RT	+0.8	-10.4	-8.4
2012	BUF	RT	-1.8	-5.0	-8.2
2011	BUF	RT	+1.8	-1.8	-1.3

Pears has consistently graded out better at tackle than guard over the course of his career, stretching back to his time in Oakland, but he’s never been a successful run-blocker.  That, of course, was Anthony Davis’ bread and butter—even in an injury-plagued 2014 season, which saw him be rather ineffective on the whole, he was still very good at opening up holes for Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde.

I’d imagine that the 49ers would get the 2012-13 version of Pears if they started him at tackle, rather than the disaster that was Pears trying to play out of position in 2014, but that’s still not a particularly good option.  He’s also 32 years old, meaning there’s not a lot of hope that he’s going to take a step forward at any point. 

He seems to be an upgrade over Jonathan Martin as the reserve tackle, but if thrust into the starting lineup, I think he’ll hurt the 49ers more than help.  He’ll be getting initial right tackle snaps in minicamp, according to Jim Tomsula (via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee), but I’m not yet convinced he’s the best option.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

During OTAs, Pears has been playing guard, and it’s been seventh-round pick Trent Brown filling in at right tackle, according to Barrows.

Brown is a more intriguing option than Pears.  I had him pegged as my second-favorite pick the 49ers made in the draft this year.  That’s not to say he’s the second-best player, just that I thought that he represented a major value with the 244th pick in the draft.

The first thing you notice about Brown is that he blocks out the sun.  Standing at 6’8” and 355 pounds, with 36-inch arms and massive hands, Brown’s size is definitely elite. 

No one in the NFL last season could match up to those measurements; the closest matches would be defensive tackles T.J. Barnes of the New York Jets or Daniel McCullers of the Pittsburgh Steelers, both of whom clock in at 6’7” and between 350 and 365 pounds.  You can’t coach pure size, so having someone with those measurable on your team is a definite positive.

He’s not just a large body, either.  He’s agile for someone of his size—here he is throwing down a dunk—and knows how to use his strength to his advantage.  His length and power allow him to redirect opposing rushers, mashing his way through opponents.  He’s also been getting some rave reviews from the coaches so far.

Jim Tomsula had the following to say, per Tyler Emerick of 49ers.com:

"

Trent Brown has got tremendous ability.  There’s a lot of development that needs to take place, but absolutely. I really like that guy, and I like the way he’s working.

I’m not looking at you now telling you Trent Brown is going to start at right tackle. But I’m also not telling you he won’t. He’s just got a lot of work to do, but his potential and his development is really exciting

"

You wouldn’t expect a head coach to have too many negative things to say about a rookie in his first OTAs, but it’s promising that Tomsula had such praise.  In addition, the beat writers seem to agree that, at least in these initial workouts, Brown has been looking good.

Barrows highlighted Brown in one of his dispatches from camp, pointing out that he was fairing very well in one-on-one passing drills, with only Aldon Smith managing to beat him.  He’s a very different player than Davis was, using more foot speed than true power blocking.  That bodes well if the 49ers do in fact move to the zone-blocking scheme, as has been discussed this offseason.

I was disappointed by Brown’s performance at the Senior Bowl, where he came in at 376 pounds and, according to Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm, “struggled with speed and sustaining blocks.”  

That had many observers write him off at tackle and assume he could only handle guard at an NFL level.  He’s dropped 20 pounds since then, and from all accounts, that’s helped significantly.  My gut feeling is that 2015 might be too soon to expect him to step into a starting lineup, but I couldn’t count him out quite yet.

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

However, I think the 49ers’ best option to replace Davis this season will be someone who wasn’t at OTAs at all—guard Alex Boone.

Boone has played tackle in a pinch for the 49ers before.  He played most of 2013’s home game against the St. Louis Rams at left tackle, when Joe Staley went down with a knee injury, for example, and was primarily a reserve tackle prior to 2012.

Tackle also seems to be a better natural fit for Boone, just considering his frame.  Like Brown, Boone’s 6’8”, and you see taller players usually man the tackle positions. 

Boone was a tackle at Ohio State, though he was moved inside due to a perceived lack of athleticism.  That might still be an issue if he was asked to play left tackle on a regular basis, but his career to this point shows all the skills you’d need to make a transition to right tackle.

It’s a move Boone would likely welcome, too.  Tackles simply make more money than guards, and Boone’s made little effort to hide his unhappiness with his current deal.  Boone held out all of the 2014 offseason, and his contract expires at the end of this year.  If he moves to right tackle and has a very good season, he could see his next contract be worth considerably more.

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

This year, at least, Boone’s not holding out.  While he’s skipping all of the offseason voluntary workouts, he will attend the mandatory minicamp, according to Barrows.  That’s already a step up from last season, when Boone actually had to sit out the season opener thanks to rust.

Of course, moving Boone over to tackle is only shifting the problem of replacing a starter, as someone would have to take over Boone’s left guard position.  Fortunately, however, the 49ers already have an answer for that on the roster.

Brandon Thomas, last year’s third-round pick and a redshirt selection, has been penciled in as Mike Iupati’s replacement almost since the day he was drafted.  He’s impressed at OTAs, according to Taylor Price of the 49ers’ official website, and looks good to go.

The other interior lineman position previously up for grabs was center, where last year’s other third-round pick, Marcus Martin, is battling veteran Daniel Kilgore for the role.  Martin struggled last season when he had to fill in for the injured Kilgore, but he’s only 21 and still has plenty of potential.  The thought was that one of those two players would win a starting job, and the other would be on the bench.

However, both Martin and Kilgore have experience playing guard, so it could simply be two players fighting for two positions if Boone moves to right tackle.  The loser of the center competition would simply line up at right guard. 

This is actually a perfectly solid scenario, even if neither is likely to be as good as Boone was there.  It’s probably best for the 49ers' long-term development if Martin wins the center role and Kilgore plays guard, but it could work out either way.

What we might have, then, is an indirect position battle between the Martin/Kilgore loser and Trent Brown.   If the 49ers think Brown’s potential performance at right tackle is better than Martin or Kilgore’s potential at right guard, maybe that helps Brown clinch the starting slot. 

Otherwise, an offensive line that goes, from right to left, Alex Boone, Daniel Kilgore, Marcus Martin, Brandon Thomas and Joe Staley might be the 49ers’ best potential starting lineup for 2015.

Bryan Knowles is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers.  Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.