{"id":4148,"date":"2026-07-09T22:09:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4148"},"modified":"2026-07-09T22:09:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:09:54","slug":"kurtenbach-five-under-the-radar-moves-that-could-loom-large-for-the-2026-49ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4148","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: Five under-the-radar moves that could loom large for the 2026 49ers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 49ers\u2019 offseason wasn\u2019t flashy, and I\u2019ll hear you if you don\u2019t think it was sufficient. But San Francisco did a remarkably nice bit of business this spring.<\/p>\n

Read more Every city you can fly to nonstop out of Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK)<\/a><\/p>\n

Sure, the Niners didn\u2019t \u201cwin\u201d the winter and spring, but that doesn\u2019t mean their actual season is cursed. The \u201ctrophies\u201d won in March rarely translate to January parades.<\/p>\n

Right now, we are mired in the deep, unrelenting lull of the sporting calendar. The Giants are doing absolutely nothing worthy of positive attention, the U.S. is out of the World Cup, but lucky for us, training camp is just around the corner.<\/p>\n

The road is clear: It feels like a safe time to look back while, at the same time, moving forward.<\/p>\n

The beauty of the NFL is in the chaos. It\u2019s a league built on explosions.<\/p>\n

Who knew a seventh-round draft pick \u2014 dead last overall \u2014 would become this franchise\u2019s savior at quarterback? Along those same lines, who foresaw that the No. 3 overall pick \u2014 acquired for more than just that first-round pick \u2014 would never come close to making it?<\/p>\n

How a front office handles the unforeseen is the true test of a program\u2019s mettle. The Niners have, in general, over the last 10 years, been strong in that department. Last year, they were outstanding.<\/p>\n

Jake Tonges, Tatum Bethune, Garrett Wallow, and Kendrick Bourne. Not one of them was heralded coming into the 2025 campaign. Not all of them were even on the roster in Week 1.<\/p>\n

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Yet all played a vital role in the Niners making the postseason and ultimately winning a playoff game. It\u2019s those gritty margins that define a season.<\/p>\n

So, in a few months, who will we look at and say, \u201cMan, am I glad they called that guy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are my prime suspects:<\/p>\n

OFFENSIVE LINE: Vadarian Lowe, Robert Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Having a reliable swing tackle is something you can never take for granted. The Niners were straight-up winging it last season after Jaylon Moore\u2019s departure to Kansas City.<\/p>\n

Lowe\u2019s signing didn\u2019t make waves. But with 38-year-old Trent Williams at left tackle, a good insurance policy was desperately needed.<\/p>\n

Lowe is exactly that. The bottom won\u2019t fall out if Williams can\u2019t play.<\/p>\n

Perhaps more importantly, Williams won\u2019t have to play injured if things get ugly. It\u2019s a luxury this regime hasn\u2019t always enjoyed.<\/p>\n

As for Jones, the Niners are going to give second-year pro Connor Colby the first go at the starting left guard spot. Maybe he takes it and runs, or perhaps he doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s the latter, the Niners will happily go to Jones. His 2024 tape with the Dolphins was strong.<\/p>\n

And while an injury kept him from playing with the Cowboys last year, I suspect he\u2019ll find a way to earn snaps for this Niners team and such a development will be a good thing for the team.<\/p>\n

DEFENSIVE LINE: Bryson Eason, James Thompson<\/strong><\/p>\n

These were super-under-the-radar moves. We\u2019re talking undrafted free agents here, the ultimate NFL scratch-off tickets.<\/p>\n

But I think the Niners found not one but two gems in that crop in Tennessee\u2019s Bryson Eason and Illinois\u2019 James Thompson.<\/p>\n

Read more The untold story of how detectives exposed California parent\u2019s lies about their baby\u2019s death<\/a><\/p>\n

Both looked like the real deal in the spring. I suspect that momentum will carry forward into training camp.<\/p>\n

Eason is an explosive gap shooter who can hold his own on run plays. He was one of my favorite prospects to watch during the pre-draft process.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps I should call him one of the most interesting prospects of the pre-draft process. I constantly vacillated between loving his tape and thinking he was completely undraftable. One of those proved to be true. But you could already see technique corrections and scheme fit in his short, unpadded time with the Niners.<\/p>\n

Tennessee runs Looney Tunes stuff on defense. Seeing Eason translate to a pro front is exciting.<\/p>\n

It might, however, create a numbers problem.<\/p>\n

Can they sneak him onto the practice squad, or are they destined to make space on the 53? Those are problems for Eason to present and John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan to figure out before hopping on that plane to Australia.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Thompson is tall, has powerful hands, and possesses an impressive burst. He profiles as a 1- or 2-technique on the Niners\u2019 defensive line.<\/p>\n

With Alfred Collins not yet proving he\u2019s worthy of trust, Thompson could be an immediate impact guy.<\/p>\n

Both rookies should find supporters in the preseason \u2014 heaven knows they\u2019ll both receive a lot of run \u2014 and both have a legitimate chance to play this year.<\/p>\n

SNEAKY: Adrian Martinez<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the biggest projection of them all, but hear me out: The Niners were wise not to let quarterback Adrian Martinez walk out the door this past winter.<\/p>\n

Not only does Martinez look bigger, but he was unquestionably the best of the third-quarterback options in spring drills.<\/p>\n

As someone who actively (and I believe justifiably) reads into 7-on-7s and padless 11-on-11s, that was a blaring klaxon for me.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think Martinez is the kind of player who makes Mac Jones immediately expendable. But should a good offer \u2014 meaning better than a projected comp pick \u2014 come the Niners\u2019 way in the coming months, they might have more reason to listen.<\/p>\n

Martinez could absolutely be the guy to take the backup job. He held it down behind Jones when Brock Purdy was injured, after all.<\/p>\n

Of course, you never want to find out you made the right decision at No. 3 quarterback. That means something has gone horribly wrong with your season.<\/p>\n

But you certainly don\u2019t want to find out you made the wrong<\/em> decision. I think Martinez has a real shot to impress in the preseason and hang around for a long while.<\/p>\n

Read more 49ers open 11 training camp practices to public, including joint session with Titans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forget the flashy signings and trades. These unheralded moves will actually define the 49ers’ season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKurtenbach: Five under-the-radar moves that could loom large for the 2026 49ers - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kurtenbach: Five under-the-radar moves that could loom large for the 2026 49ers - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Forget the flashy signings and trades. 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