One of the key free agent bets is being placed on Jaylon Moore. After using four different left tackles last year, Kansas City is hoping that Moore can adequately handle that spot.
The fact that he signed a contract worth only $30 million for two years suggests it’s more of a hope (prayer?) than an expectation. If other teams that that Moore could be a serviceable left tackle, he would have gone for a lot more.
Moore played his college ball at Western Michigan. He was a fifth-round pick in 2021. Stuck behind Trent Williams, he’s started only 12 games in four years.
Still, one would have thought that if Moore were showing more in practice, the 49ers would have figured out other ways to get him on the field – at right tackle, for example.
When the 49ers had Moore filling in for Williams, the offense didn’t tend to be as good. San Francisco went only 4-8 with Williams the last four years, including winning only one of its last eight games.
Kyle Shanahan is known for running the ball, but in those 12 Moore games, I see only four where the team had a notable running back (four games where a running back ran for over 75 yards, averaging over 5 yards per carry).
In those 12 games, I see San Francisco’s leading running back averaging 15 carries for 66 yards (averaging 4.4 per), with 6 TD runs and another 2 TDs on catches.
Note that Christian McCaffrey started only two of those 12 games.
| 49ERS RUNNING BACKS WITH JAYLON MOORE STARTING | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opp | Result | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Receiving |
| 2021 | • Elijah Mitchell | Ind. | L, 18-30 | 18 | 107 | 5.9 | 1 | 0-0-0 |
| 2021 | Elijah Mitchell | LAR | W, 31-10 | 27 | 91 | 3.4 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| 2021 | Jeff Wilson | at Jac. | W, 30-10 | 19 | 50 | 2.6 | 0 | 1-8-0 |
| 2022 | • Jeff Wilson | at Car. | W, 37-15 | 17 | 120 | 7.1 | 1 | 1-12-0 |
| 2022 | Jeff Wilson | at Atl. | L, 14-28 | 7 | 25 | 3.6 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| 2023 | Christian McCaffrey | at Min. | L, 17-22 | 15 | 45 | 3.0 | 1 | 3-51-1 |
| 2023 | Christian McCaffrey | Cin. | L, 17-31 | 12 | 54 | 4.5 | 1 | 6-64-1 |
| 2024 | • Isaac Guerendo | at G.B. | L, 10-38 | 15 | 78 | 5.2 | 2 | 2-50-0 |
| 2024 | Isaac Guerendo | at Buff. | L, 10-35 | 16 | 57 | 3.6 | 0 | 4-18-0 |
| 2024 | Patrick Taylor | Chi. | W, 38-13 | 8 | 24 | 3.0 | 0 | 1-1-0 |
| 2024 | Isaac Guerendo | LAR | L, 6-12 | 9 | 34 | 3.8 | 0 | 4-65-0 |
| 2024 | • Patrick Taylor | at Mia. | L, 17-29 | 17 | 109 | 6.4 | 0 | 1-12-0 |
At quarterback, the 49ers in those 12 averaged 267 passing yards, with 20 touchdowns versus 14 interceptions. The interception number is high, but only 21 sacks, so they didn’t fall apart in that regard as much as you might expect. And those guys completed 68 percent of their passes.
In the chart, I flagged players who passed for more than 250 yards, with multiple touchdowns.
| 49ERS QUARTERBACKS WITH JAYLON MOORE STARTING | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opp | Result | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Sk |
| 2021 | Jimmy Garoppolo | Ind. | L, 18-30 | 16 | 27 | 181 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2021 | Jimmy Garoppolo | LAR | W, 31-10 | 15 | 19 | 182 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | Jimmy Garoppolo | at Jac. | W, 30-10 | 16 | 22 | 176 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 | • Jimmy Garoppolo | at Car. | W, 37-15 | 18 | 30 | 253 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 | • Jimmy Garoppolo | at Atl. | L, 14-28 | 29 | 41 | 296 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | Brock Purdy | at Min. | L, 17-22 | 21 | 30 | 272 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2023 | Brock Purdy | Cin. | L, 17-31 | 22 | 31 | 365 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | • Brock Purdy | at G.B. | L, 10-38 | 20 | 25 | 325 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | Brock Purdy | at Buff. | L, 10-35 | 14 | 31 | 142 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2024 | • Brock Purdy | Chi. | W, 38-13 | 26 | 40 | 313 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2024 | • Brock Purdy | LAR | L, 6-12 | 27 | 35 | 377 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | • Joshua Dobbs | at Mia. | L, 17-29 | 29 | 43 | 326 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Where this leads, we’ll see. Most likely it will be Moore starting at left tackle for the defending AFC champs.
The belief was that Kansas City wanted to sign Ronnie Stanley, whom most believe was the best left tackle on the market. But he re-signed with Baltimore. After that move, KC had to pivot to Plan B, gambling on a backup with a dozen fill-in starts.
—Ian Allan