The 49ers had a veteran center in Daniel Kilgore. To most outsiders, upgrading the position wasn’t a priority this offseason.
Yet when the Niners had the opportunity, that’s exactly what they did, signing the former New York Giants starter Weston Richburg to a five-year deal that could be worth a much as $28.5 million.
Richburg, 26, was a target of general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan because they believe he is perfectly suited to upgrade the 49ers offensive line – a weak spot in 2017 – because of his ability and mobility at his position. Richburg is known to be effective in making blocks at the line of scrimmage or pulling and getting into the second and third levels of the defense to make an impact in the running game.
The other thing Richburg brings, they believe, is leadership.
Through the recent organized team activities (OTAs), Shanahan has seen exactly what he wanted to see from Richburg and believes the 49ers offense will be much more effective in 2018 to a large degree because of his play. Shanahan said the center is key because he needs to communicate well with the other members of the offensive line as well as the quarterback.
“There’s a lot of stuff the center is involved in, getting all 11 guys on the same page, and that takes a lot of time,” Shanahan told Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “He’s been real good. You can tell he’s a natural center, and he’s done it his whole life. He had a very successful college career. That’s why he was a second-round draft pick and did a heck of a job in New York. He got to play a lot of center, got to play guard, so he’s been through it. Just the way he’s handling himself in the meeting rooms, even before we got out there, we could tell quickly it wasn’t going to be an issue.”
The analytic website Pro Football Focus rated Richburg as the 14th best free agent ahead of this year’s free-agent signing period. While Richburg is a strong leader and run blocker, he’s excelled as a pass blocker, which of course is good for the 49ers, who’ve invested big money with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Sports
Wrote Pro Football Focus: “Through his career, Richburg has allowed only four sacks on a whopping 2,112 pass-blocking snaps.”
