Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams (71) before the game against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Where 49ers OT Trent Williams Ranks Among PFF's Top 20 NFL Players

Originally posted on San Francisco 49ers on SI
By Grant Cohn | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 1:00 PM ET

Heading into last season, Trent Williams was the third-best player in the entire league, according to Pro Football Focus. Only Patrick Mahomes and Myles Garret ranked higher. That's when the 49ers were coming off a narrow Super Bowl defeat in overtime.

"Perhaps nothing better sums up Trent Williams‘ dominance than the fact that he has actual highlight reels as an offensive tackle," PFF wrote last year. "He didn’t give up a sack all (2023) while posting a 92.6 PFF run-blocking grade. He was one of only two tackles in the game to earn PFF grades of at least 80.0 as both a pass protector and a run blocker, and the only one to do so with an overall mark north of 90.0.

This year, the 49ers are coming off a six-win season during which Williams played in just 10 games -- he missed the final seven with a high-ankle sprain. Now, he's 37, and has missed multiple games due to ankle injuries for five consecutive seasons.

That's why Williams has fallen to 17th on PFF's top 50 players heading into 2025.

"The fact that Williams’ 85.6 PFF grade in 2024 is his lowest since arriving in San Francisco underscores just how dominant he’s been," writes PFF. "He leads all tackles with a staggering 97.7 PFF grade and 2.34 PFF WAR over the last five seasons. Even after a slight dip and missing the final seven weeks last year, Williams remains one of the NFL’s elite offensive linemen heading into his age-37 season."

Part of the reason Williams' performance dipped last season before his injury is that he skipped all of OTAs, minicamp and training camp as he held out for a new contract which he eventually received. This year, he participated in OTAs and minicamp and presumably will during training camp as well. So he should be in much better football shape early in the season compared to last year, when he was trying to work his way into football shape during the season.

Still, he's 37 and he has chronic ankle injuries. He probably will rank even lower next year. That's life.

This article first appeared on San Francisco 49ers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: