SANTA CLARA — We’ll know more about the viability of Spencer Burford being a rookie starter at right guard for the 49ers once their preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers has concluded.
Pancake a few Packers and it’s all good. But get beat a handful of times and then the evaluation really begins for coach Kyle Shanahan and offensive line coach Chris Foerster.
“He says it all the time,” Shanahan said of Foerster. “You don’t know if an O-lineman can play until he gets his ass kicked in a game. How do you come back next week? Do you kind of hide? Or do you rise to the occasion and deal with it?
“That’s really what playing O-line is in the NFL, and you don’t know that until you give those guys opportunities.”
That’s why Burford, along with second-year right guard Aaron Banks, will get a long look Friday night against the Packers at Levi’s Stadium. Veterans, such as Trent Williams, Mike McGlinchey and Daniel Brunskill, will be brought along with Week 1 of the regular season in mind.
Unless you’re a line coach who understands all the angles and nuances of blocking schemes, it can be tough to assess who is standing out during training camp when there is no tackling to the ground. There’s an emphasis on footwork and being in position to strike as opposed to laying the wood to a teammate.
But it’s clear Burford, taken No, 134 overall, has made an impression because he’s been running with the first team since camp began.
Burford is encouraged but a long way from cocky.
“Has it surprised me? I knew I always had it in me,” Burford said Tuesday. “At the same time I’m not focused on the starting position or the second string position. I’m just here to play the game that I love and help the team win. If they find something in me, thank God. If they don’t I’m going to keep working.”
It’s heady stuff and extremely challenging. The 49ers play in the same division as the Rams’ Aaron Donald, and at the moment the interior line starters are Banks at left guard Jake Brendel at center and Burford at right guard, with Daniel Brunskill available just about anywhere (including tackle) in a pinch. It’s a completely remade interior line in front of a rookie quarterback in Trey Lance.
How the current starters fare against the Packers and even more importantly joint practices in Minnesota against the Vikings next week could determine how they line up against the Chicago Bears on the road in the regular season opener on Sept. 11.
Brunskill is an experienced fallback should either guard not work out. Or at center for Brendel. Considering McGlinchey is coming off a serious quadriceps/tendon injury that needed surgery, the only no-doubt-about it starter on the line is perennial Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams.
“Burford can’t get enough reps. Banks can’t get enough reps,” Shanahan said. “When you have guys that haven’t played a lot, they need to be out there a ton. I’m very glad that if it doesn’t work out for one of those two guys, it’s not like, `oh, man, Dan hasn’t practiced there. Dan can hop in right away.”
While Banks got off to a slow start after being a second-round pick from Notre Dame last season and spent the season watching and learning, Burford made a quick first impression in OTAs which has carried over to contact practices.
At 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, Burford has the athleticism to move in the 49ers’ outside zone scheme and appears to have grasped techniques and adjustments that are far beyond what the zone scheme and gap schemes he executed at Texas-San Antonio. He played tackle his last two seasons in college and was a guard as a freshman and sophomore.
“I thought I knew what outside zone was, but there’s a million different ways that you can possibly run it,” Burford said. “There are different fits, different keys that you can focus on. Just six inches can change the whole dynamic and technique of a play. They say football is a game of inches and it really is, especially when you sit down, break it down and study it.”
McGlinchey, Burford’s potential running mate on the right side, has liked what hes’ seen.
“He’s got the frame for it, the size, a strong lower half, enormously long arms an all the scout mumbo-jumbo you want to throw at him,, McGlinchey said. “But he’s a competitor, learning every day and he’s done a great job getting thrown into the fire.”
Burford is balancing playing his first game as a pro with being steely-eyed enough to execute his plan. When he takes the field, he’ll do so with the counsel of teammates who aren’t nearly as excited but remember what it’s like to suit up as an NFL player for the first time.
“The veterans have been a real help,” Burford said. “They’ll tell me, you’re going to have good plays and you’re going to have bad plays. It’s football, just win more than you lose. It’s going to be electrifying. The crowd’s going to be crazy.”
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