Former Player Sees 49ers in Rebuild Mode as Rams Surge

When one window closes, another opens. In the NFC West, where the favored Rams are firing no-look Matthew Stafford passes at a wide chasm, San Francisco is in a much different place.

According to former safety Donte Whitner, the 49ers would be wise to remove their fingers before their window slams shut.

“I do believe that the 49ers’ window is closing,” Whitner told Kay Adams on Wednesday’s edition of Up & Adams. “So many players are getting what they rightfully deserve and that's top contracts. But when you do that, you have to pay Brock Purdy, you start to reach for talent at other positions. And one of the position groups that they did not address was the offensive line.”

When the 49ers visit SoFi Stadium on Thursday Night Football in Week 5, that offensive line could consist of future Hall of Famer Trent Williams and practice-squad signee Ben Bartch on the left side. And with former college free agent Jake Brendel at center, the 49ers enter camp with a third-round choice in his second year, Dominick Puni, and sixth-year veteran Colton McKivitz on the right side. Christian McCaffrey is expected back to 100 percent as well.

“But if there's nobody that can block and block consistently up front, they'll probably struggle running the ball,” said Whitner, who started all but one game at strong safety for Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers from 2011-13. “And you lost Deebo Samuel. Even though Deebo Samuel didn't have his typical year last year, he was still a major piece to that offense.”

The Rams won’t miss Samuel, now in Washington. They were 0-8 against him over his first eight games until that San Francisco window began to close last year and the Rams’ window opened. On defense, Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw are now in Denver, and Charvarius Ward is with the Colts. The team did re-sign one of its best players, linebacker Fred Warner, this week.

“I look at individual players that they have to replace that they’ve been covering up for, for so long now,” Whitner said. “There just comes a point in time, just like we did with our, our trip with Harbaugh, we went to three consecutive NFC Championships. We ran out of juice.

“Players get hand-picked from your squad to go to other teams and then you're filling them with a free agent or a rookie who really doesn't have much invested. And then when you get to those big games versus those great quarterbacks, they know who to pick on.”

One of those great quarterbacks is Stafford, who is finally starting to turn a corner against the Rams’ division rivals. Stafford has won two straight games over the 49ers for the first time in his career. Rest assured, he wants to extend that streak with the Rams’ Super Bowl window in full focus. Whitner sees that as just one factor in what he sees as a rebuilding year in Santa Clara, even though the 49ers have what’s widely considered the NFL’s easiest schedule.

“And then you wear down on defense. You start to lose guys. The run defense starts to suffer. And you can't get turnovers and then it turns into the same story where you have to have a rebuilding phase.

“They've done a really good job of rebuilding without it being noticeable, but I think this is going to be the first year where it's very noticeable, the rebuild for the 49ers.”

Be sure to follow @RamsInsideronSI and @BrockVierra on X (Twitter) and weigh in on Whitner's takes!

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