Mike McGlinchey and Trent Williams formed the best run-blocking offensive tackle tandem in the NFL last season. The San Francisco 49ers offensive linemen finished with Pro Football Focus' best run-blocking grades (91.8 for Williams, 91.3 for McGlinchey).
When it comes to pass-blocking, things were different. Williams had a solid pass-blocking grade last season. However, while McGlinchey's run-blocking grade was a career-high, his pass-blocking grade of 58.3 was a career-low mark.
McGlinchey wasn't too fond of the criticism against him last season or the Twitter highlights of him being tossed aside by defensive linemen, accusing analysts of "chasing a lazy narrative of one play or two." At the time, the tackle didn't feel any major changes were needed to his technique.
"I don't think it's anything that's glaring," McGlinchey said in late December. "I don't think it's anything that needs a major fix. It's a body position thing here, fitting your hands a little bit there. And it's finishing plays and finishing games. That's what I'm going to do moving forward."
McGlinchey didn't feel any changes were necessary to his physique either.
"I don't think my size has anything to do with my inconsistency of play this year," McGlinchey said. "Do I think I could be a little bit bigger? Sure. ...I was maybe five pounds lighter than I was last year."
The offensive lineman went on to say that if his coaches or trainers told him to add weight, he would, though.
It sounds like McGlinchey is focused on getting bigger and stronger this offseason. In a conversation with KNBR's Jacob Hutchinson, the offensive lineman said he is up to about 315-320 pounds, which he estimates to be about a 15-pound increase. McGlinchey has been working all offseason with the head of strength and conditioning, Dustin Perry, on a program focused on adding weight and strength.
"He said it was a 'huge emphasis' to get stronger," reported Hutchinson.
McGlinchey feels that the work is paying off. Working with team personnel this offseason is a significant benefit over last season when players were forced to work remotely due to the pandemic. They had guidelines from the team, but it was up to the players to follow them.
"There wasn't necessarily a number that I was trying to have, but it was definitely evident that I needed to get stronger," McGlinchey told Hutchinson. "It was a tough offseason last year all the way through. Everything was shut down. Even our facility was shut down. Food resources were shut down, so I had to figure out and get creative about what I needed to do to stay on top of things. And unfortunately, it just made life on the field a little bit more difficult."
McGlinchey also addressed last season's criticisms and now admits that he may have taken them too personally. He doesn't plan to let that happen again. The offensive lineman's inability to fully interact with his teammates as he did pre-pandemic led him to "go down a rabbit hole" and let the clips get too much into his head.
"But the fact of the matter is, I had bad moments last year," McGlinchey said. "I definitely deserved some of the criticism that I got. I don't know if it needed to be as extensive as it was from week to week, but that's what happens when you're a focal point of your offense that's kind of injury-riddled, and I was a first-round pick, so expectations are high. Expectations for myself are high, but on top of it, I understand how frustrating things went last year, and there were some bad things that I put on film that will never happen again."
McGlinchey is focused on turning things around in 2021. In May, the 49ers exercised his fifth-year option, ensuring that the tackle remains with the team through the 2022 season. He'll have two seasons to prove that he can be part of San Francisco's long-term plan. He has the opportunity to use last season's criticisms as motivation to improve.
"That's why I think it's a good thing for Mike to go through that stuff because I think it can make him stronger," head coach Kyle Shanahan said in late December. "He's made of the right stuff, he's a good football player, he's going to have a great career, and I plan on it being here. And I hope he takes it the right way, and it makes him a better player next year for it."
