{"id":7050,"date":"2026-08-17T14:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7050"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:12:07","slug":"kurtenbach-the-49ers-have-a-guard-problem-and-its-not-getting-any-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7050","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: The 49ers have a guard problem and it’s not getting any better"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SANTA CLARA \u2014 Amid all the injuries and conspiracy theories and, believe it or not, some pretty good football being practiced every now and again, you might not have noticed a glaring problem for the 49ers\u2019 heading into the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Read more Why are hummingbirds immune to Mountain View trumpet plants?<\/a><\/p>\n

They don\u2019t have a starting left guard.<\/p>\n

Worse yet, they have no lead on one, either.<\/p>\n

And while there are weeks until the team\u2019s opener in Australia, the fact is that we are weeks into training camp, and the Niners seem to have less of an idea today of who will be lining up between Trent Williams and Jake Brendel in Week 1.<\/p>\n

For a team whose 2025 season was derailed by relentless push-back of their interior line, the situation is unquestionably inauspicious.<\/p>\n

What the Niners do have at left guard is a collection of hopeful gambles, broken track records, and wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all led to the question: is this team\u2019s starting left tackle in Week 1 even on its current roster?<\/p>\n

On Sunday, starting right guard Dominick Puni (who is excellent) missed practice with a concussion, and the entire interior-line depth chart suddenly looked like a fire drill at a circus.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Everyone with a pulse received reps at both guard spots. No one looked like they could handle it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s dire stuff.<\/p>\n

The Niners drafted Connor Colby in the seventh round last year and gave him every opportunity to seize the job at the start of camp. They wanted him to take it. They begged him to take it.<\/p>\n

All he\u2019s done on the field and on the depth chart is cede ground, and the team\u2019s faith in him is visibly eroding.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEven though it has improved, some of those same holes are still there,\u201d offensive line coach Chris Foerster said earlier this month. \u201cSome of the things that he struggled with a year ago are coming back\u2026 still not the consistency that we\u2019d like to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t even need to read between the (offensive) lines there, the man whose opinion matters most laid it out as clear as a Santa Clara day.<\/p>\n

But if not Colby, who?<\/p>\n

Robert Jones?<\/p>\n

His camp has been a roller coaster. He\u2019s a mauler in the run game who can\u2019t hold his ground when asked to pass protect \u2014 in many ways the opposite of Colby.<\/p>\n

Also, relying on a guy coming off serious neck surgery \u2014 it cost him all of 2025 \u2014 to hold up your interior line is like banking your retirement on scratcher tickets.<\/p>\n

Read more High school football 2026 preview: WACC Shoreline Division<\/a><\/p>\n

The Niners have given Jones plenty of work in camp, his practice hasn\u2019t backed up the faith, and his tape against the Titans in the first preseason game left plenty of be desired. If it was a young player making those mistakes, he\u2019d probably get a longer leash. A six-year vet? There\u2019s not much wiggle room, there.<\/p>\n

Speaking of a younger player: Behind them both is rookie Carver Willis.<\/p>\n

Willis is converting from college tackle, which means he\u2019s swimming in deep water while trying to learn how to play in a phone booth. They\u2019re also cross-training him at center. Long-term, the upside is there, but right now he\u2019s too green to be anything more than a developmental project. I doubt that changes in the coming months, much less days.<\/p>\n

If Willis is starting in September, it likely means everyone else failed.<\/p>\n

And the Niners\u2019 offensive failure rate will likely go up as a result.<\/p>\n

So where does that leave San Francisco?<\/p>\n

Guessing.<\/p>\n

The best in-house option might actually be tackle Austen Pleasants, who in one-on-one reps has held up quite well on the inside.<\/p>\n

Pleasants has the temperament and a sneaky-enough anchor to play on the interior, but the Niners can\u2019t even rep him at guard right now. Trent Williams is on a veteran pitch count, and swing tackle Vederian Lowe is parked on the sideline nursing an ankle injury, so Pleasants has to take reps at tackle just to keep practice functional.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s roster gridlock that would make my 880 commute look easy.<\/p>\n

Luckily for the Niners, there are other options \u2014 outside options. Because when your in-house solutions are injured, unproven, or out of position, it\u2019s time to swallow your pride and pick up the phone.<\/p>\n

James Daniels? He\u2019s hanging out there, unsigned. It\u2019s unclear if his LinkedIn says #OpenForWork, but he\u2019s an eight-year veteran with 82 career starts who can play both guard spots and center.<\/p>\n

Daniels was actually a part of the trade talks between the Steelers and 49ers during the Brandon Aiyuk saga back in 2024. The front office liked him then, and maybe they still like him now.<\/p>\n

If not Daniels, perhaps the Niners dial up Will Hernandez.<\/p>\n

The former Cardinal is an absolute brawler with over 90 NFL starts who brings the exact nasty, tone-setting violence this interior unit needs.<\/p>\n

And Kevin Zeitler might not be the exact kind of guard the Niners prefer for their system, but we\u2019re in beggars-can\u2019t-be-choosers territory here. All indications are that Zeitler wants to play \u2014 he visited the Commanders recently \u2014 and he was strong for the Titans last season. At this point, he might just be driving a hard bargain with a league full of desperate teams. You can\u2019t blame him.<\/p>\n

But you can pay him.<\/p>\n

None of these guys are John Hannah, but they\u2019re possibly \u2014 just possibly \u2014 functional, certainly veteran pros who likely \u2014 just likely \u2014 won\u2019t get your quarterback decapitated by Myles Garrett on a stunt, or, heaven forbid, Aaron Donald on a bull rush down under.<\/p>\n

And, sure, the Niners can wait to see who is cut around the league at the end of the month, but is Melbourne the best place to have a get-to-know-you?<\/p>\n

John Lynch loves to preach roster depth and aggressive problem-solving. It\u2019s time to stop waiting for someone on the current depth chart to magically transform and go acquire a left guard before reality hits Brock Purdy square in the chest.<\/p>\n

Read more Bay Area events calendar for Aug. 21-27 weekly editions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Francisco 49ers: No one has emerged in a three-man battle for the starting left guard spot. It’s time to add some more names into the mix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKurtenbach: The 49ers have a guard problem and it’s not getting any better - 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=7050\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kurtenbach: The 49ers have a guard problem and it’s not getting any better - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"San Francisco 49ers: No one has emerged in a three-man battle for the starting left guard spot. 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