FanHouse Jonas Jennings

The San Francisco 49ers made a pair of moves on Friday afternoon in regards to their offensive tackle position. After releasing veteran Jonas Jennings, the team agreed to a two-year deal with free agent Marvel Smith, in what amounts to the swapping of one injured tackle for another.

According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Smith's deal is filled with incentives in the event his season is cut short by injuries, which has been the case in each of the past two years.

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Lots of speculation concerning the Niners and Adalius Thomas, but the 49ers might not stop there. 49ers blog Niners Nation has a story up concerning rumored interest by San Francisco in left tackle Leonard Davis.

Davis has been with Arizona since being drafted second overall in 2001, but he didn't quite live up the Cardinals expectations. He played guard his first three seasons, and moved to left tackle in 2004. It's hard to tell where the 49ers would place him, since their current left tackle Jonas Jennings is pretty solid. Right tackle Kwame Harris didn't impress this past season though, so it's possible that Davis could slide in on the right side.

Regardless of where he'd go, offensive line depth is always a great thing to have, but you have to wonder if the attraction to Davis doesn't have something to do with the fact that he's a "name guy". San Francisco is pretty close to being a playoff team, and I'm not sure they need to be spending their money on an area that was pretty solid last season. The line's pretty young as well, and I'm guessing they still have improvement left in them.

And if this somehow were to interfere with the Niners picking up a guy like Adalius Thomas then it'd become firmly entrenched in the "bad idea" category. Defense has to come first with this team.

For the first time since opening day the 49ers offensive line is finally going to field all of its starters. Injured left tackle Jonas Jennings and left guard Larry "All You Can Eat" Allen both have the green light to play. Which is good news for the offensive line, but bad news for the buffet line.

Since suffering an opening-day ankle injury, Jennings has been in and out of the lineup with other wrist and paper cut injuries while Allen has not played since game one when he suffered a knee injury. The health of the O-line could not have come at a better time since the 49ers head into Soldier Field to take on the Bears who have one of the best defenses in the league. But not is all rosy on the offensive line, however, Nolan has said that the line would be the same one that started the season, which means Kwame "I Can't Block Worth a Crap" Harris is still starting at right tackle with Adam Snyder backing up both tackle spots. Which I can understand since I'm sure Jennings will suffer an ingrown toenail and have to be pulled from the game.

The good news is left tackle Jonas Jennings is ready to go. The bad news is his counterpart Larry Allen isn't. Half of the starters on the left side of the line appear ready to take the field on Sunday when the Eagles come to town. Jennings is optimistic he'll play and that is great news for this offensive line. Jennings was actually ready to go against the Rams but the team chose to deactivate him and give Adam Snyder the start.

"I kind of thought I was going. I had a protective brace, but probably I wasn't moving at the speed they wanted me to move at,'' Jennings said. "That's what I'm guessing. Plus not practicing all week probably didn't help my case.''

Jennings suffered a high ankle sprain in the season opener against the Cardinals, and to have him back after missing only one game is a plus, considering last season the offensive line was one of the major eyesores for this team. With Jennings coming back that will allow the "sixth man," Adam Snyder, to move over to left guard and fill in for veteran Larry Allen. Tony Wragge has filled in nicely for Allen, who got his first start in four years against the Rams, but having Snyder on the line gives the 49ers their strongest unit.

The 49ers will certainly need a strong line this weekend against a strong Eagles front seven who held Tiki Barber to only 50 yards rushing. The 49ers did catch a break, however, with Jevon Kearse's season ending knee injury.

If the offensive line can continue to play this solid minus Allen and/or Jennings, then just imagine what Frank Gore and this offense can do behind a complete healthy line. I salivate at the thought of it.

The 49ers made it through preseason relatively unscathed, but that all ended on Sunday when the 49ers starting left side of the offensive line when out with injuries. The early reports coming in on the injury status of Larry Allen and Jonas Jennings are not looking good. Larry Allen is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday morning to determine the extent of his knee injury. At this time Mike Nolan has said it is only a sprain, but the fear is it might be a tear of the ACL. Jonas Jennings injury doesn't appear as bad. Jennings injured himself just before halftime, but reentered late in the game. The word on Jennings' injury is a high ankle sprain. Both are expected to be out for the home opener against the Rams this weekend. Tony Wragge and Adam Snyder are expected to replace the two on the line. Allen will most likely miss more time than Jennings, which I can live with mainly because with Jennings healthy and on the line, that means Adam Snyder can move to right tackle and "drive-killer" Kwame Harris can ride the pine.