Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers have been seeing injuries pop up, while others have returned from injuries in their everlasting cycle during the 2025 season.
One player who missed a chunk of the season was left guard Ben Bartch, who won the starting job before suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints.
Bartch proceeded to miss the next eight weeks, but returned in Week 10 during San Francisco’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Only that didn’t come as a starter. Instead, Bartch rotated in with Spencer Burford, who got the start at left guard.
San Francisco went with the same pairing in Week 11 last week against the Arizona Cardinals, with Bartch’s snap rate increasing from 44.4 percent to 54.5 percent. Still, he didn’t earn the start, with Burford taking the early reps.
What have the 49ers seen from the alternating guards through the first two weeks of the experiment?
“I think it’s been working and we kind of take it week-by-week, kind of see where they’re at in practice,” offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said about Bartch and Burford on Friday. “I think the way the games have gone, the guys have benefited from being in there, getting in a rhythm and then getting to come out for a little bit and just kind of see the game a little bit differently. Take a break, let the other guy go in and play, that can help guys sometimes.
“That can help guys, whatever it is mentally, it can help a guy play better, more consistently if he knows, ‘Hey, I’ve got a guy coming in and I can kind of take a breather.’ But, it also depends on the game. I think back to some games where we didn’t get into a rhythm and we just kept guys out there. And so, if we’re playing good and we’re running the ball, I think hopefully we have that consistency with rotating those guys. But, we’ll just kind of see how each week goes.”
Teams usually don’t alternate offensive linemen because of the camraderie needed up front. However, it seems like the 49ers are testing it out early and Bartch gets more reps coming back from injury before potentially making a decision.
While San Francisco doesn’t go into games with a predetermined approach to each player’s snap rate, they have an idea of how much each guy will play.
“We don’t predetermine how many drives or whatever, but we give them an idea like, ‘Hey, just be ready in a couple series,’” Kubiak continued. “You never know when it’s going to change, but he’s ready for it.”
Burford’s play has been up-and-down over the last few weeks, so it makes sense to revert back to Bartch whenever he’s fully ready to handle that load. But, the latter has dealt with injury issues over the past few years, so this could be San Francisco’s way of limiting his load until the stretch run to enhance performance.
For now,...
