The San Francisco 49ers knew they needed to get younger and more athletic along the offensive line. Center Jake Brendel enters the final year of his contract, while Dominick Puni and Connor Colby were the only other players on rookie contracts heading into the NFL Draft.
The Niners ended up drafting 24-year-old Carver Willis in the fourth round, a tackle who they view as an interior lineman out of Washington. Carver’s 40-time was in the 78th percentile. That speed shows up when he’s on the move, whether
working laterally or climbing to the second level.
However, despite a 6’5″ frame, Willis is a few pounds over 300, with smaller hands than De’Zhaun Stribling and arms slightly longer than the receiver the 49ers drafted at the top of the second round.
You’re not going to last on the edge with that body type in the NFL. Most of Willis’s athletic comparisons on Mockdraftable ended up playing center. The more you watched Willis at Washington, despite playing tackle, the more it seemed like he was destined to snap the ball in the NFL.
Basic Info
Age: 24
Experience: Rookie
Height: 6’5
Weight: 303 pounds
Cap Status
Willis has a base salary of $885,000 in 2026 and a prorated signing bonus of $267,498. His cap number in 2026 is $1.15 million. He’s not going anywhere, as it would cost more to cut Willis than to keep him. He’ll be relatively cheap for the duration of his rookie deal, as is the case with most fourth-rounders.
Free agency additions were telling
The 49ers struck gold with Dominick Puni in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Like Willis, Puni was a tackle convert. He’s also a sixth-year senior who played in 45 games. Eighteen of Willis’s starts came at right tackle, with 10 coming at left tackle. The 49ers likely admired Willis for playing through pain for the final six games of the season after being sidelined for three games after tearing his right MCL in 2025.
Toughness aside, there are only Senior Bowl reps of Willis at guard. He played both right and left guard, but a week’s sample isn’t much to go off.
Chris Foerster said he believes Willis is a starting-level NFL player this offseason. That can be true, but expecting him to pick up guard over a few months and hit the ground running feels like a leap a playoff team should not be willing to take — unless Willis blows them away during training camp.
The 49ers signing veterans Robert Jones and Brett Toth this offseason, in my mind, was them telling us they want a veteran to win the job. They want experience on the field and to avoid another Spencer Burford situation like last season.
Willis will get a fair shot to win the job, but he’d need to impress the way Puni did as a rookie. Puni took advantage of an injury and never looked back. Puni also came into the league with a wingspan, vertical, and broad jumps in the mid-70th percentiles, whereas Willis’s vertical jump was in the 31st percentile.
Which leads us to our next point…
Why Willis will likely need to redshirt
I believe the offensive line is the most difficult position to translate to the NFL as a rookie, even for fifth- and sixth-year seniors. You cannot simulate the strength and athleticism these defensive lines have nowadays in college. Puni had both of those traits, which is why he was and remains an outlier.
Watching Willis against collegiate programs with NFL prospects, Ohio State and Oregon, he did not look like the kind of prospect who would be ready to play as a rookie. When I referenced Willis’s vertical jump, that kind of lower-body explosion shows up when it’s time to be an anchor as a blocker.
There are plenty of traits to like about Willis. His hand placement and punch timing are above average, even if his hands can occasionally get a little wide — likely Willis overcompensating. He does a great job on combo blocks, can easily redirect, and moves more like a second-rounder than a fourth-rounder. Best of all, Willis competes through the whistle and will look to finish whoever he is blocking. He stays engaged, which is a valuable trait to have.
Some things happen to Willis that he cannot control. I saw one of the Ohio State players forklift him off the ground. Too often, his lack of length was problematic. And while changing directions isn’t an issue, the shorter arms allow defenders to close space on him, knowing that Willis won’t affect them.
This is a three-out-of-four play sequence below. Watch the left tackle, No. 50:
No. 1 on Oregon will be a 1st-rounder next year. He appears in the second clip. Those are the types of defensive tackles Willis will face this season as a rookie. When I watched him, Willis looked like a player who needed more sand in his pants to hold up in pass protection.
Now, the 49ers could do different things upfront to hide him or minimize the number of 1-on-1s Willis gets. He was at his best when he was uncovered. When he could help somebody else out, or had help on combination blocks.
That’s a center. Foerster is probably correct in viewing Willis as a starter, but that’s likely in 2027 to replace Brendel and become the 49ers’ center of the future.
As a rookie, Willis should take advantage of a professional strength & conditioning program, as well as all of the nutrition that comes with being a pro. He’ll learn the ins and outs of playing a new position while going against NFL-quality linemen on the scout team.
