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The 49ers Don't Seem Committed to RT Colton McKivitz

Remember, the 49ers seemed poised to draft Washington right tackle Roger Rosengarten in Round 2 until the Ravens took him one spot before them.

Grant Cohn

Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Colton McKivitz
Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Colton McKivitz / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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Colton McKivitz might not finish the season as the 49ers' starting right tackle.

Last season was his first as a full-time starter, and it didn't go so well for him. He gave up a whopping 13 sacks -- most among right tackles. So either he needs to get better, or the 49ers need to find an upgrade. And considering McKivitz will turn 28 in August, it's unlikely he'll improve significantly.

That's why it was so confusing when the 49ers gave him a one-year extension this offseason. But when you look closely at the deal, you see McKivitz has no guaranteed money on it after 2024. So the 49ers really aren't committed to him. He's still a mere stopgap until they find someone better.

Remember, the 49ers seemed poised to draft Washington right tackle Roger Rosengarten in Round 2 until the Ravens took him one spot before them. Then San Francisco 49ers traded down and took cornerback Renardo Green. It's fair to assume Rosengarten was the first choice and that he would have taken the starting right job from McKivitz sooner rather than later -- probably midway through the 2024 season at the latest.

But the 49ers didn't get Rosengarten. And in Round 3, they drafted Dominick Puni, who's a guard, not a tackle. So they still hadn't addressed McKivitz's position. And that's why they signed veteran right tackle Chris Hubbard this week. He has had injury issues the past few seasons, but when he has been healthy he has played better than McKivitz. Hubbard's PFF grade was higher than McKivitz's just last season.

If Hubbard can stay healthy, don't be surprised if he takes McKivitz's job.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.