Connor Colby Leading 49ers’ Left Guard Competition

Connor Colby, who made six starts last season as a seventh-round rookie, is fending off challengers thus far. The late-round draftee appears “solidly ahead” of free agent pickup Robert Jones, The Athletic’s Matt Barrows notes. Colby is working with the 49ers’ first-stringers, while Jones is receiving second-team work.

San Francisco gave Jones — a former Miami starter — a one-year, $1.75MM deal. The contract is nearly fully guaranteed, but the terms certainly do not protect Jones — who missed all of his 2025 Cowboys season due to injury — from being assigned swingman status or being released when rosters are trimmed to 53 this month.

Making 50 starts during his career at Iowa, Colby struggled when replacing an injured Ben Bartch last season. The 49ers then turned to Spencer Burford over Colby. Burford and Bartch signed elsewhere (Raiders, Lions) in free agency. Although Jones is far more experienced (30 career starts), he appears to be battling uphill thus far in this competition.

“Connor had an awesome offseason,” 49ers O-line coach Chris Foerster said before camp, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “I would say through OTAs, he really established himself. I’ll say Rob Jones has done an excellent job since being here as well. Those two guys have really set themselves apart from the other guys.”

The 49ers added another piece of Colby insurance in Brett Toth, whom Barrows notes is in the LG mix as well. While Toth appears behind in being classified as an “other guy,” the ex-Eagle swingman made a career-high four starts last season. Though, his six starts in eight NFL seasons matches Colby’s count through one. Toth did receive more than $2MM guaranteed in free agency, and he offers center experience for swing purposes. The 49ers also drafted Washington’s Carver Willis in Round 4 to be part of this competition.

San Francisco does not have job openings at the other spots along its offensive line. Trent Williams returns for a 17th season, while the team has locked-in starters at center (Jake Brendel), right guard (Dominick Puni) and right tackle (Colton McKivitz). A low-cost left guard will be joining this quartet.