The 49ers’ situation on the offensive line is getting dire. While they’re still working through some hiccups with their unproven interior, they’re now digging deep into their roster to find answers at left tackle.
Colton McKivitz, who started Week 4 since Trent Williams is out with a high ankle sprain, is now potentially out for several weeks with an MCL sprain according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“Colton McKivitz ended up having an MCL sprain,” Shanahan said in a conference call Tuesday. “He’s going to be out a while. Very similar to what [RB] Elijah [Mitchell] and [LB] Azeez [Al-Shaair] have.”
Mitchell and Al-Shaair are both expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, so the 49ers can likely anticipate missing McKivitz for a similar stretch of time.
There’s no timeline yet on a return for Williams either, so San Francisco may be scraping the bottom of the barrel for left tackles for the foreseeable future.
2021 fifth-round pick Jaylon Moore, who was a four-year starter at left tackle at Western Michigan, figures to be first in line to start. Shanahan said the coaching staff is still ironing that out though.
“We’ll see how this week plays out,” Shanahan said. “Really haven’t discussed it yet, but most likely it’ll be Jaylon Moore, but we know Dan [Brunskill] is always an option.”
Brunskill was active Monday night for the first time all season and saw minimal action filling in for a series at right guard for rookie Spencer Burford. Tackle is Brunskill’s natural position, though he’s become an interior lineman with San Francisco over the last three years. Reserve OL Blake Hance also has offensive tackle reps under his belt in the NFL.
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