The San Francisco 49ers are digging deeper at center again, and Friday’s transactions showed just how stretched things have become.
While the Pittsburgh Steelers claimed wide receiver Colton Dowell, whom the 49ers recently waived, San Francisco also brought in three offensive linemen for tryouts: Doug Kramer Jr., Joe Michalski and Lecitus Smith.
The timing tells the story. Carver Willis is in the concussion protocol, Brett Toth is out, and Nick Zakelj is out as well.
Willis’ situation stands out because the team has not announced an injury. There has been speculation about concussion-related issues, but nothing official has come from the club.
The uncertainty only adds to the sense that the 49ers may be operating without much interior line help for a while.
Kramer Jr. entered the league as a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and spent 2024 playing center for the Bears, though only in a limited role. He is 28 years old and listed at 6-foot-2, 299 pounds.
Michalski is the newest of the group, arriving as an undrafted free agent out of the 2025 NFL Draft. He’s also a center, listed at 6-foot-3, 297 pounds, and posted above-average shuttle and 3-cone times at Oklahoma State’s Pro Day. He was a redshirt senior.
Smith, like Kramer, was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He opened his rookie season as a starter for the Cardinals against the three NFC West teams, and his roughest outing that year came against the 49ers on the road in Week 11.
Arizona cut him at the end of the 2023 training camp, and he later moved through the Texans and Eagles practice squads in 2023 before making the Patriots roster in 2024. Last season, he started the final game of the year for the Packers.
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