Connor Colby’s NFL story has already taken a sharp turn from what the 49ers expected when they used the No. 249 pick on the Iowa offensive lineman in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The plan was simple enough: let the rookie learn behind the scenes, soak up Chris Foerster’s system and ease into life in the league. Instead, injuries ripped through the interior line by Week 2 and Colby was shoved into the starting lineup at left guard.
That kind of baptism can expose a young lineman fast, and Colby’s rookie year did exactly that. He brought real athletic traits to Santa Clara after four seasons as a Big Ten starter - 6-foot-5, 309 pounds, a 5.11-second 40 and a 9-foot-3 broad jump that landed in the upper percentiles for interior linemen. But his 32-inch arms were a different story, and that mismatch showed up once NFL defenders got a clean read on him.
The positives were easy to spot. Colby moved well on zone runs, showed quick feet climbing to linebackers and generally looked like a guard who could cover ground.
But when he had to redirect or when rushers crossed his face, the limitations became harder to hide. Arizona made that point loudly in Week 3 by repeatedly putting veteran pass rusher Josh Sweat over Colby’s interior shoulder.
That game was a rough one. Colby gave up eight blown blocks, including seven pressures in pass protection, and the league seemed to take the hint from there.
Opponents kept attacking his reach and trying to beat him before he could get first contact. He finished with 13 game appearances and six starts, but by Week 8 he was down to just 25 snaps and spent the rest of the year in reserve duty.
Now Colby enters Year 2 with a contract setup that gives the 49ers plenty of flexibility. His 2026 base salary is $1.005 million, and his signing bonus amortization sits at $25,418. Since that signing bonus is the only guaranteed money, San Francisco could move on and absorb only $25,418 in dead cap while clearing more than $1 million in savings.
For all the rough edges on the field, the feedback around Colby inside the building remains strong. Colton McKivitz said the rookie has already started to slow the game down mentally after being thrown into the fire.
“I think Connor Colby’s come a long way," McKivitz explained. "I think you never know how your rookie season is going to go.
It can be really good or really bad, and you learn a lot. You're kind of flying by the seat of your pants, and you don’t really have a whole lot of technique.
You’re just thrown in, and it’s a whirlwind.
So to see him play a lot faster right now-obviously, it’s OTAs, we’re not hitting... but to see him kind of come out of his rookie season and take a breath, and then come in a little more rejuvenated, understands the scheme a little more... it’s good to see, just a great guy.”
Foerster sounded just as encouraged, while making clear the next step has to come quickly.
“The biggest improvement most guys make is between Year 1 and Year 2. And so you’re going to see a big jump in Connor Colby, and he has to make a big jump.
Because when he stopped playing, it was not real good for him. So Connor has made a nice jump, as far as you can tell.”
The tape still points to the same basic formula for Colby: he looks best when he’s the one attacking first. Jump sets and run concepts that let him lean forward fit his movement skills, while deeper pass sets leave him vulnerable to interior rushers getting into his chest. That’s the challenge now - turning the athletic tools that got him drafted into the kind of consistent technique that keeps him on the field.
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