On Friday, the 49ers placed six players on the Physically Unable to Perform List, and those players included Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall, Malik Mustapha and Yetur Gross-Matos.
But we know Aiyuk and Mustapha would miss most or all of training camp. And for all we know, the 49ers could activate Pearsall and Gross-Matos on Wednesday for the first practice of training camp. So, there's no reason to panic about those two just yet.
Ben Bartch is another story. He's supposed to replace Aaron Banks as the 49ers' starting left guard, and on Friday, he was placed on the Non-Football Injury List. Which means he injured himself away from the facility some time between the end of minicamp in June and now. The 49ers haven't said what the injury is or the severity of it, but they should provide some clarity on Tuesday when Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch speak to the media.
If Bartch has to miss part of training camp, it's unclear who will replace him as the starting left guard. Spencer Burford is one clear candidate, but he will have to play left tackle in practice until Andre Dillard is activated off the PUP List, because Trent Williams doesn't participate in 11-on-11 team drills.
Another candidate is rookie pick Connor Colby. Sure, he was a seventh-round pick, but so were Brock Purdy and Jauan Jennings. Plus, Colby went to Iowa, the same program that produced George Kittle. So he fits the scheme at least. And now, he has an opportunity to take a starting job, which is what Dominick Puni did last year in training camp when he was a rookie and Burford and Jon Feliciano went down.
If Kolby shows promise, the 49ers probably will give him the job, because he's under contract for three more years after this one and he's cheap.
