Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers announced that they’ve placed starting left guard Ben Bartch on the Injured Reserve List. Bartch made it through Week 1, playing 76 snaps on offense. But he only lasted ten snaps in Week 2 after suffering a high-ankle sprain.
With Bartch headed to the IR and Spencer Burford day-to-day, the Niners officially announced the signing of Brandon Parker to the practice squad. Parker was drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was on the Niners roster in 2024. Parker has 33 starts throughout his career. He was most recently with the Falcons’ practice squad before being released on September 2.
The Niners also announced that they’ve promoted tight end Brayden Willis to the active roster.
Bartch is set to miss at least four games, which opens the door for rookie seventh-rounder Connor Colby, who was a standout in Week 2, to win the starting left guard job from Bartch, who has always struggled to stay healthy.
Colby would need to be healthy and consistent during the next month. He impressed in the running game and was competitive in pass protection. Rookies will always face the challenge of seeing different looks, so we can expect opposing defenses to target Colby during the next month. But that also means the attention is shifting toward Trent Williams and away from the right side.
Per Sports Info Solutions, Colby had the lowest blown block percentage of any offensive lineman on the 49ers in Week 2. Furthermore, every other lineman was north of three percent, while Colby was at 1.8 percent.
