SANTA CLARA — It is much too early to declare a winner, but a front-runner has emerged.Based on a strong offseason program, second-year player Connor Colby is the favorite to open the season as the 49ers’ starting left guard.
Now, comes the difficult part.
He must continue to perform at a high level in order to hold onto the job.
“We’re going to play the best five players as we can,” 49ers assistant head coach and offensive line coach Chris Foerster said Sunday.
“And at left guard, we brought guys in to compete at the left guard spot. Now, he (Colby) is the incumbent and nobody else has done anything to beat him out to this point.”
Colby was a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Iowa. He started 50 games in his four-year career at Iowa.
As a rookie, Colby started six games with the 49ers.
Ben Bartch opened last season as the starting left guard before Colby took over. When Colby struggled, Spencer Burford finished the year as the starter. Now, Bartch is with Detroit and Burford signed with Las Vegas.
The 49ers signed...