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The 49ers Sign OT Chris Hubbard

When Hubbard is healthy, he is better than 49ers starting right tackle Colton McKivitz.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 17, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Chris Hubbard (66) and
Sep 17, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Chris Hubbard (66) and | Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers just signed a starting offensive tackle.

Chris Hubbard has signed a one-year, $1.375 million contract, according to The NFL Network. Hubbard, 33, was the Tennessee Titans starting right tackle for nine games before he tore his bicep and finished the season on the Injured Reserve List. Hubbard has played just 456 snaps total the past four seasons, which means his body is breaking down. No surprise at his age.

But he has experience playing both offensive tackle and guard. And the 49ers probably don't want him to start -- they have all five of their starting offensive linemen from last season. Hubbard probably will be used as a backup who can play every position except center. Which means he has a great chance to make the team if he's healthy. The 49ers have to be careful with Hubbard, though. He could stay healthy through training camp, then get injured midway through the season, and in that case the 49ers would have to scramble for another backup offensive linemen. So they have to be sure he can hold up, which is no guarantee.

But when Hubbard is healthy, he is better than 49ers starting right tackle Colton McKivitz. So it's possible the 49ers just added an upgrade to the weakest position on their team. They've desperately needed an offensive tackle for years but heaven't drafted one since 2021. It seems the 49ers don't feel confident drafting and developing offensive tackles, so they sign cheap ones instead. Kind of a risky strategy at such an important position.

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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.

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