Aug. 12, 2026, 7:45 p.m. PT
The left guard competition is heating up for the San Francisco 49ers, and not in a good way. The Athletic’s Vic Tafur reported that “it might be time to get concerned about the left guard spot” after watching Connor Colby against Robert Jones in practice this week. “The 49ers all but handed the job to second-year player Connor Colby at the start of camp, but he has dropped below former Miami Dolphin Robert Jones on the depth chart,” Tafur noted. “And it’s not like Jones, who is on his fourth NFL team and missed all of 2025 with a neck injury, has looked that good. Colby spent most of the day as the second-team right guard.
He was also in at left guard with the third team, after Jones and rookie Carver Willis.”
Jones does have starting experience, though, which Colby lacks. He started 30 of 49 games across four seasons with the Dolphins, including a full 17-game starting slate in 2024, which is part of why San Francisco viewed him as a plug-and-play option after signing him to a one-year deal this offseason. Colby, meanwhile, was a seventh-round pick out of Iowa in 2025 who started 50 of 54 games in college and earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors as a senior. Head coach Kyle Shanahan made clear Wednesday that nothing is settled.
“I think it’s too early to say. I mean, there definitely is a battle there,” Shanahan said. “It’s open for anybody. Those guys would probably be (in) the lead at it.
I’d love to get Carver in that, too.”
That competition matters plenty for a 49ers offensive line that returns All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams and center Jake Brendel but has one clear vacancy up front. However, while the line looks good with its veterans, the left guard spot is easily the weakest of the unit with no standout player yet emerging.
