Are we in for another season of musical chairs at left guard for the San Francisco 49ers?
We’re a year removed from Ben Bartch starting the season, but not making it out of October before getting hurt. Because Spencer Burford was banged up early in the year, it meant Connor Colby would fill in as the backup. By the end of the season, neither trio looked the part — for one reason or another.
In fairness to Colby, he was a seventh-round rookie who should’ve never been playing that early in his career.
Colby’s teammates and coaches were confident that he’d improve over the offseason. Colby was handed the reins as the starting left guard to begin training camp, but once the pads came on, he was quickly demoted.
Injuries to Robert Jones and Austen Pleasants, two players who won’t play in the preseason finale and are expected back “around Australia,” according to Kyle Shanahan, have put Colby right back into the mix at left guard. Two weeks ago, it was unclear whether he’d make the roster.
On Tuesday, when asked how he saw the competition at left guard going, Shanahan said, “I mean, it’s close to being decided, and it needs to be close. Today is the second-to-last day that we’ll get to evaluate. We’ll get it on the game. You’ve got Connor, and you’ve got Carver [Willis] who are both competing. And we’ve got [Robert] Jones who’s been hurt, so we’ve got to balance that off, not having him the last two weeks. But that’s something we’ll discuss and decide on who we want to play in Week 1.”
Shanahan said Jones and Pleasants will get on the plane. If that’s his way of tipping those two will make the roster, that might spell the end for Colby. Pleasants can play tackle and guard. Jones can play both guard spots. Willis has cross-trained at all three interior spots.
That would mean the Niners keep:
Trent Williams
Pleasants
Jones
Willis
Jake Brendel
Dominick
Puni
Colton McKivitz
Brett Toth
The tenth spot could go to either Colby or Enrique Cruz Jr., depending on how this week of practice and the preseason go. If Cruz Jr. continues to look lost, there’s little risk when it comes to losing him on the waivers. That’s a fascinating decision the team must make: Determining whether Cruz Jr. has enough upside to keep.
Keep an eye on how long Colby plays right guard on Thursday. If he doesn’t get a look on the left side, the “battle” is over, especially with the injuries to Jones and Pleasants. Will the coaching staff play Jones after missing two weeks? I have my doubts.
If we don’t see Willis play much at all on Thursday, then that’s a good sign for how the coaching staff feels about him as a starter. If he plays left guard for an entire half, the competition will continue into next week’s practice, and we won’t know the starter until the team is warming up in Week 1.
