After the first two days of training camp, it appears the 49ers might be repeating a mistake they made last season.
Last year in training camp, San Francisco handed starting jobs to right guard Spencer Burford and right tackle Colton McKivitz. Both had to play well enough to keep the starting jobs, but they were never really pushed by other players who rotated in and got first-team opportunities.
In the first two days of this year’s camp, they’ve seemingly implemented the same strategy. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner noted on Twitter that Burford has been the only RG with the first team in both sessions:
If the Niners have any intention of rotating Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano at RG, they haven’t shown it yet. Burford has been the starter so far at RG. Feliciano has worked at center (even some snaps with the 1s) and at RG, which makes sense because he’s the backup center.
As Wagoner notes, the team may have confidence in Feliciano since he finished last year as the starting RG. They could be giving Burford extra reps as his initial chance to try and win that job. Rookie Dominick Puni should also be a factor at the RG position and they may still be getting him acclimated to the NFL before jumping into first-team reps. That would make sense since the offensive line’s play in camp is hard to judge until pads are put on.
It wouldn’t make sense if for the second year in a row they didn’t offer Burford any real competition. Maybe this year he steps up and makes a jump. That’s on the table. He’s not a bad player, but his inability to hold down a starting job in each of his first two years is certainly a concern. The 49ers have to exhaust every option to find their top five offensive linemen, and going into 2024 without at least proving competition at the right guard position would be a mistake.
