The San Francisco 49ers are mere days away from kicking off their regular season down in Australia against the Los Angeles Rams, and head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad still isn't set on who'll start at left guard.
After Tuesday's practice (Monday in the U.S.), offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak tried putting a positive spin on the non-answer by suggesting the Niners could go with a rotation of sorts:
Multiple guys can play in the game and we’ll see how the game goes with who we start and kind of how we want to do the rotation. But you’ve got to get a feel for how the game’s going and how guys are handling stuff. So, nothing’s settled, nothing’s determined right now.
Translation: "We still don't know the best option."
49ers may soon pay for lack of action at left guard
San Francisco tossed several assets at left guard during the offseason, namely by signing veteran guard Robert Jones (he's since been released), signing reserve lineman Brett Toth (currently on injured reserve) and using a day-three draft pick on Carver Willis. Additionally, there was hope second-year pro Connor Colby could take a substantial leap after a lackluster rookie year.
Yet none of the moves appear to have panned out well enough, leading to a conclusion that left guard will likely be a major problem for the 49ers this season.
And that's not particularly helpful, especially against an L.A. defense that now boasts pass-rushers like Myles Garrett and, assuming he plays, unretired All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
Granted, the Niners have utilized rotations before (Jonathan Feliciano and Spencer Burford in 2023 was one such example), and the same idea could apply again. But even Kubiak doesn't sound certain as if this approach will work this time around.
"I don’t know," Kubiak added when asked if he was certain to use a rotation in Week 1. "We’re going to have multiple guys up and multiple guys ready to go. So, whether they rotate or not, that’ll be determined how the game goes."
That's pretty much an admission of not having a solution in place. Going up against what figures to be an elite defensive front, the outcome points more toward being disastrous than anything else.
And that'll likely lead to some costly lessons learned.
Add us as a preferred source on Google