The San Francisco 49ers' season is pretty much over, as Kyle Shanahan and company are shockingly out of playoff contention with two games to play. The 49ers got bitten by the injury bug in a massive way this season and have been dealing with critical absences on both sides of the ball throughout the year.
One of the biggest injuries that they have had to deal with was to superstar offensive tackle Trent Williams. Williams has been dealing with an ankle injury and has not played since Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks. Shortly after the 49ers' loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 16, reports surfaced that Williams would be out for the rest of the season, and the 49ers made that official on Thursday by placing him on injured reserve, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
To replace the open roster spot left by Williams' move to IR, the 49ers signed offensive lineman Matt Hennessy to a two-year contract. Hennessy has appeared in 45 games over the last four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and started all 17 games for Atlanta in 2021 at center.
Article Continues BelowLife has been tough for the 49ers on offense without Williams in the lineup. He unlocks the 49ers both on the ground and through the air with his ability to stonewall even the league's best pass rushers and drive some of the biggest defensive linemen off of the line of scrimmage. His ability to pull and get out in space using his elite athleticism to open up holes in the running game.
Williams isn't the only injury that the 49ers are dealing with right now. On top of lingering issues with George Kittle and Deebo Samuel this season, the 49ers have been forced to play a good chunk of the season without both Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey. Because of that, Shanahan hasn't ben able to get consistent production out of that group and the 49ers have slumped towards the bottom of the NFC West as a result.