SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Amid all the injuries and conspiracy theories and, believe it or not, some pretty good football being practiced every now and again, you might not have noticed a glaring problem for the San Francisco 49ers heading into the 2026 season. They don’t have a starting left guard. Worse yet, they have no lead on one, either. And while there are three weeks until the team’s ...

San Francisco 49 ers center Jake Brendel and guard Connor Colby do drills with teammates during their practice at Levi’ s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Thursday, May 28, 2026.

Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Amid all the injuries and conspiracy theories and, believe it or not, some pretty good football being practiced every now and again, you might not have noticed a glaring problem for the San Francisco 49ers heading into the 2026 season.

They don’t have a starting left guard.

Worse yet, they have no lead on one, either.

And while there are three weeks until the team’s opener in Australia, the fact is that we are three weeks into training camp, and the Niners seem to have less of an idea today of who will be lining up between Trent Williams and Jake Brendel in Week 1.

For a team whose 2025 season was derailed by relentless push-back of their interior line, the situation is unquestionably inauspicious.

What the Niners do have at left guard is a collection of hopeful gambles, broken track records and wishful thinking.

It’s all led to the question: Is this team’s starting left tackle in Week 1 even on the roster?

On Sunday, starting right guard Dominick Puni (who is excellent) missed practice with a concussion, and the entire interior-line depth chart suddenly looked like a fire drill at a circus.

Everyone with a pulse received reps at both guard spots. No one looked like they could handle it.

It’s dire stuff.

The Niners drafted Connor Colby in the seventh round last year and gave him every opportunity to seize the job at the start of camp. They wanted him to take it. They begged him to take it.

All he has done on the field and on the depth chart is cede ground, and the team’s faith in him is visibly eroding.

“Even though it has improved, some of those same holes are still there,” offensive line coach Chris Foerster said earlier this month. “Some of the things that he struggled with a year ago are coming back … still not the consistency that we’d like to see.”

You don’t even need to read between the (offensive) lines there; the man whose opinion matters most laid it out as clear as a Santa Clara day.

But if not Colby, who?

Robert Jones?

His camp has been a roller coaster. He’s a mauler in the run game who can’t hold his ground when asked to pass protect — in many ways the opposite of Colby.

Also, relying on a guy coming off serious neck surgery — it cost him all of 2025 — to hold up your interior line is like banking your retirement on scratcher tickets.

The Niners have given Jones plenty of work in camp, but his practice hasn’t backed up the faith, and his tape against the Titans in the first preseason game left plenty to be desired. If it was a young player making those mistakes, he’d probably get a longer leash. A six-year vet? There’s not much wiggle room there.

Speaking of a younger player: Behind them both is rookie Carver Willis.

Willis is converting from college tackle, which means he’s swimming in deep water while trying to learn how to play in a phone booth. They’re also cross-training him at center. Long-term, the upside is there, but right now he’s too green to be anything more than a developmental project. I doubt that changes in the coming months, much less days.

If Willis is starting in September, it likely means everyone else failed.

And the Niners’ offensive failure rate will likely go up as a result.

So where does that leave San Francisco?

Guessing.

The best in-house option might actually be tackle Austen Pleasants, who in one-on-one reps has held up quite well on the inside.

Pleasants has the temperament and a sneaky-enough anchor to play on the interior, but the Niners can’t even rep him at guard right now. Trent Williams is on a veteran pitch count, and swing tackle Vederian Lowe is parked on the sideline nursing an ankle injury, so Pleasants has to take reps at tackle just to keep practice functional.

It’s roster gridlock that would make my 880 commute look easy.

Luckily for the Niners, there are other options — outside options. Because when your in-house solutions are injured, unproven or out of position, it’s time to swallow your pride and pick up the phone.

James Daniels? He’s hanging out there, unsigned. It’s unclear if his LinkedIn says #OpenForWork, but he’s an eight-year veteran with 82 career starts who can play both guard spots and center.

Daniels was actually a part of the trade talks between the Steelers and 49ers during the Brandon Aiyuk saga back in 2024. The front office liked him then, and maybe they still like him now.

If not Daniels, perhaps the Niners dial up Will Hernandez.

The former Cardinal is an absolute brawler with over 90 NFL starts who brings the exact nasty, tone-setting violence this interior unit needs.

And Kevin Zeitler might not be the exact kind of guard the Niners prefer for their system, but we’re in beggars-can’t-be-choosers territory here. All indications are that Zeitler wants to play — he visited the Commanders recently — and he was strong for the Titans last season. At this point, he might just be driving a hard bargain with a league full of desperate teams. You can’t blame him.

But you can pay him.

None of these guys is John Hannah, but they’re possibly — just possibly — functional, certainly veteran pros who likely — just likely — won’t get your quarterback decapitated by Myles Garrett on a stunt, or, heaven forbid, Aaron Donald on a bull rush Down Under.

And, sure, the Niners can wait to see who is cut around the league at the end of the month, but is Melbourne the best place to have a get-to-know-you?

John Lynch loves to preach roster depth and aggressive problem-solving. It’s time to stop waiting for someone on the current depth chart to magically transform and go acquire a left guard before reality hits Brock Purdy square in the chest.

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