The 49ers didn’t make the kind of offseason splash that turns heads in March, and there are plenty of people who’ll tell you that wasn’t enough. But San Francisco still did some sharp work this spring, the sort of business that can matter a lot more once the games start counting.
That’s the NFL for you. The league is built on surprises, and the teams that survive the chaos are usually the ones that handle the unexpected better than everyone else.
The 49ers have generally done that well over the last 10 years, and last season they were especially good at it. Jake Tonges, Tatum Bethune, Garrett Wallow, and Kendrick Bourne all entered 2025 without much fanfare, and not all of them were even on the roster in Week 1.
Still, each ended up playing a meaningful role in San Francisco reaching the postseason and winning a playoff game.
So who could fill that kind of role in 2026? Here are five names that stand out.
At tackle, Andre Dillard looks like the kind of signing you barely notice until you really need it. With Jaylon Moore gone to Kansas City, the 49ers spent last season improvising, and that’s never a comfortable place to live.
Dillard didn’t create much noise when he arrived, but with a 38-year-old Trent Williams at left tackle, the team needed a dependable backup plan. Dillard gives them that.
If Williams can’t go, the floor doesn’t collapse. And if things get messy, Williams won’t have to push through injury just to keep the line together.
Spencer Burford is in a similar lane, though his path is a little less settled. The 49ers are giving second-year pro Connor Colby the first crack at the starting left guard job, and maybe Colby takes it and runs with it.
If he doesn’t, Burford is the obvious next option. His 2024 film with the Dolphins was strong, and even though an injury kept him off the field with the Cowboys last year, the expectation here is that he’ll find snaps for San Francisco.
That would be a good development for the team.
The defensive line may have produced the most intriguing spring finds of all. Bryson Eason and James Thompson were both undrafted free agents, which means they entered the league as long shots in the purest sense.
But the 49ers may have found something in both of them. Eason, out of Tennessee, is an explosive gap shooter who can hold up against the run.
He was one of the more fascinating prospects in the pre-draft process, the kind of player whose tape could swing from impressive to borderline impossible to project. Even in his short, unpadded time with the 49ers, you could already see technique changes and a fit with the scheme.
That could also make things tricky. The question now is whether he can sneak onto the practice squad or whether the 49ers will have to carve out room for him on the 53-man roster. Those are good problems for Eason to create, and for John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan to solve before the team heads to Australia.
Thompson, meanwhile, brings a different profile. The Illinois product is tall, has strong hands, and flashes real burst.
He looks like a 1- or 2-technique in the 49ers’ front, and with Alfred Collins still not showing he can be trusted, Thompson could step in and contribute right away. Both rookies should get plenty of preseason work, and both have a real chance to play this season.
Then there’s Adrian Martinez, who is the biggest projection of the bunch but also the one that feels easiest to overlook. The 49ers were smart not to let him leave this winter.
He looks bigger, and in spring work he was clearly the best of the third-quarterback options. That stood out, especially for anyone who pays attention to 7-on-7s and padless 11-on-11s.
Martinez isn’t the kind of player who makes Mac Jones suddenly irrelevant. But if a strong offer comes along - one better than a projected comp pick - the 49ers may have reason to think hard about it.
Martinez could absolutely win the backup job. He already held that role behind Jones when Brock Purdy was injured.
Of course, the ideal outcome is never needing to find out whether your third quarterback was the right call. If you do, something has gone badly wrong.
But the flip side is just as true: you do not want to be wrong about that spot. Martinez looks like a player with a real chance to stick, and maybe even stick for a long time.
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