Joe Looney, Marcus Martin, Daniel Kilgore, Brandon Thomas, Johnathan Martin

Am I the only one that thinks that we are fine at guard depth, and that whichever two of those five linemen won the position in training camp, we'd still have a top-5 O-line?

Is anybody really worried with the following configuration:

2014: Staley -- Iupati -- Kilgore -- Looney -- Davis
2015: Staley -- Thomas -- Kilgore -- Looney -- Davis

One of the benefits of being as deep as we are is we can afford to constantly draft linemen in the mid-rounds, which means we'll constantly resupply our ranks.

Im as positive as the next guy but of the replacements you mentioned... 2 are rookies (1 wont play this year), J. Martin has been a turnstyle, and the other 2 just havent had much game experience to gel with the complete unit.

M.Martin, Kilgore, and Looney are doing great so far but things can still go south in a hurry.. that wont matter though because Boone will have to report before missing game checks.

Iupati was a rookie; Thomas and M. Martin were both top of their class. Top-of-their-class rookies are almost plug-and-play in this league, especially with a high performing line surrounding them and a great line coach, and we're even giving them a year of seasoning.

For the LG position, you just need a good pass protector and a guy big enough and quick enough to pull to the right. The RG just needs to pass protect well and drive block well (we don't pull the RG too much). So in short, it shouldn't be that hard to replace in our system at all...we don't run a zone blocking scheme and the guys we picked up seem to be a great fit for our system. Chemistry is key. But it sure helps when you can get top-notch talent like Thomas and Martin for the cheap and have years to develop others like Kilgore and Looney. What we really need is a great swing-Tackle.

PS: You also forgot about Seymour...sounds like he was getting some praise late last year so I wonder if he's come on as well this TC.

Depth is good. 49ers have an immense collection of talent along the OL.

SMART Front Office - that Baalke guy is awesome.

Originally posted by sspiker:
Iupati was a rookie; Thomas and M. Martin were both top of their class. Top-of-their-class rookies are almost plug-and-play in this league, especially with a high performing line surrounding them and a great line coach, and we're even giving them a year of seasoning.

Exactly. Marcus Martin and Brandon Thomas are virtual locks to be productive starting linemen in the NFL. They're both athletic, big and nasty. Jonathan Martin is a question mark but I think people are jumping to conclusions about him. Looney has already proven himself. He came in against the Rams last year with their league-leading sack numbers, and didn't allow a sack, a hurry or even a touch. Kilgore is very athletic.

Baalke is running the offensive line similar to the way the Patriots and Packers have been.