49ers roster: 5 spicy position battles to watch during OTAs

Position battle No. 1: 49ers offensive line, namely left guard

A year ago in the offseason, the Niners’ offensive line depth wasn’t good, and it showed in a bad way. And while San Francisco hopefully deploys four of its five starters from last year, the lone exception being now-New York Jets left guard Laken Tomlinson, depth is still a massive question mark.

As far as left guard, the 49ers can hope second-year pro Aaron Banks fills the void after being mostly an afterthought his rookie season and seeing a mere five regular-season offensive snaps.

That’s the plan, but it’s certainly not a guarantee. The Niners spent two draft picks on linemen, UTSA’s Spencer Burford and Fordham’s Nick Zakelj, and both might be able to challenge Banks for a starting job if the latter falters in the contact-less OTAs. It’s possible one of San Francisco’s two interior UDFA linemen, Jason Poe or Dohnovan West, push for a long-shot starting bid here, too.

All four of those rookies are going to be competing for depth either way, though, especially against returning veterans such as Justin Skule, Jake Brendel, Colton McKivitz and Jaylon Moore, among others.

If there’s one thing San Francisco wants to avoid, it’ll be entering the regular season with awfully shaky depth behind the first-team unit.

OTAs hopefully solve some of those question marks.