How Chilo Rachal Personifies the 49ers' Recent Failings as a Franchise

I don't know Chilo Rachal. He might be a very nice man. Everything I've heard about him as a football player has been positive. But through no fault of his own, he represents everything that's gone wrong with the 49ers over the last few years.

Rachal was a guard in college, and the 49ers made him their second pick despite having a more urgent need at tackle. The thinking was that Rachal would be converted there, but there's one problem -- the 49ers' various decision-makers are at odds over the switch.

Now, this is a pretty big decision for the current state of the team -- a lot of jobs are riding on this season, and as last year proved a lot of the team's success will be riding on the offensive line. You'd have thought that the position would have been a priority this offseason. You'd have also thought that with the ramifications involved in getting this ship righted, the people responsible would at least be able to agree on a course of action. But no. Communication (or mis-, as the case may be), poor planning, and a lack of competent leadership have been the team's downfall since Steve Mariucci left.

And though, yes, Jonas Jennings is penciled in as the starter on the right line (making this all seemingly moot), there's no doubt that the guy who has missed 27 games in the last three seasons will need to be replaced at some point this season, if not from Week 1. The team's interest in Barry Sims indicates that the Rachal experiment isn't going well, making the dissension even more ludicrous and leaving the 49ers yet again holding their ... you know.