The San Francisco 49ers‘ offense will be tested this 2026 NFL season, as not only will they face the Seattle Seahawks’ relentless pass rush, but they now have to worry about Myles Garrett.
On June 1, the Los Angeles Rams sent outside linebacker Jared Verse and a 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick, and 2029 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Garrett.
Los Angeles, making the move for the best defensive player in the game, now puts them in the conversation as a Super Bowl favorite. Moreover, it’s the Niners who have the bad luck of the draw in facing Garrett and the Rams in Week 1 on Sept. 10 in Australia.
Ahead of the game in a couple of months, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan warned the 49ers’ offensive line that they are in for a challenging matchup trying to protect Brock Purdy while Garrett is wreaking havoc.
“Trent Williams is an amazing player, but he has had some challenging goes against Myles Garrett,” Lee Chan said in a June 1 video on her YouTube channel. “Even last year, he still got a sack against the Niners, and that was in Week 12. Trent Williams, I think, has had his ups and downs, and every time he’s gone up against Myles Garrett, it’s not easy.
“Myles Garrett does everything possible to try to get around a tackle. They’ll put him on one side, they’ll put him on the opposite side, but it’s just Myles Garrett. He is a game wrecker. He is challenging to block.”
San Francisco Will Have Its Hands Full Against Myles Garrett
As Lee Chan noted, Garrett can line up anywhere along the defensive line, meaning both Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz must be ready by Week 1.
“The 49ers’ offensive line, Colton McKivitz [and] Trent Williams, they’re going to have to [block] Myles Garrett, [who] is the stuff of nightmares for an NFL tackle,” Lee Chan added.
49ers Reporter Doesn’t Hold Back on the Niners
While Lee Chan is warning the 49ers’ offensive line to prepare themselves for what’s to come with Garrett in Week 1, another Niners beat reporter is criticizing the team for not making a move that catapults them into the Super Bowl conversation.
Grant Cohn, who covers the team for 49ers on SI, shared his thoughts on the team not making this aggressive move, even as a team in their division did.
“The 49ers messed up,” Cohn said in a June 1 video on his X account. “They just let the Rams trade for Myles Garrett. They traded Jared Verse, a first-round pick and more for Myles Garrett, and now the Rams are officially the team to beat in the NFL; they are way better than the 49ers, at least on paper, and this didn’t have to happen. The 49ers could have been the team that traded for Myles Garrett.
“They have way more cap space than the Rams [and] have first-round picks; they have Nick Bosa. They could have put together a trade package and brought in a player who would really give them a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl, who would actually put them over the top.”
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