SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Colton McKivitz spent his first three seasons in the NFL bouncing back and forth between the practice squad and active roster for the San Francisco 49ers with limited opportunity to play.
Now McKivitz heads into Year 4 with a big role on one of the Super Bowl favorites as the starting right tackle, a big change for a player who had been fighting just to stay in the league.
“I could not be standing here,” McKivitz said Tuesday. “That’s just part of it. It’s taught me a lot about being a pro and learning from some of the vets. Just getting advice from some of those guys and teaching me the ways to be prepared for when I get my chance. Now’s the time. I’m taking full advantage of what they taught me.”
McKivitz joined the Niners as a fifth-round draft pick out of West Virginia in 2020 and started three games as a rookie. But he failed to make the team coming out of camp the following year, being relegated to the practice squad, where he spent most of that season before being named an emergency starter in a Week 18 game San Francisco needed to win to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
McKivitz spent most of last season as a backup again, with just one start before signing a two-year, $4.6 million contract in March that gave him some stability.
That was only fortified when San Francisco went through the offseason without drafting or signing a potential starter at the spot, showing belief that McKivitz could replace Mike McGlinchey.
“I’ve sweated a few drafts,” he said. “For them not to take anyone and to put that full confidence me as a starter is huge. The pressure's not off because you're now the starter. But it just gives that ability to work on the little things and not have that kind of little voice in the back that you may not be here tomorrow. But at the same time, you may lose your job. It builds confidence that the front office and those guys have confidence in me to be the starter. It's my job not to lose it.”
McKivitz said getting cut before his second season was a bit of a shock but he responded well by working harder and leaning on veterans like All-Pro left Trent Williams to improve as a player.
“That was a wake-up,” offensive line coach Chris Foerster said. “If you talk to him about it, that would probably be his wake-up call in the NFL. Nobody claimed him and we brought him back on our practice squad. That was one of those things where he kind of thought: ‘Well, I was drafted. I’m going to be here. I’m going to get my opportunities.’ You come to realize that nothing’s guaranteed and so we brought him back in a practice squad role and he was a different guy from that moment on.”
This is the second straight season that the Niners have entrusted a starting spot on the offensive line to a relatively untested player.
Last year, the three interior starters came into the season with three career starts, with rookie Spencer Burford playing right guard, second-year player Aaron Banks stepping in at left guard and Jake Brendel getting the nod at center after starting only three games his first six seasons.
Now it's McKivitz's turn.
“He’s been through it all,” Williams said. “He’s been through it pretty much every situation you can go through, except for being a Day 1 starter. Now that’s his position. He’s earned it. We’re proud of him. He’s a phenomenal player. The confidence that he plays with, in my opinion, allows him to play at a high level.”
NOTES: The Niners signed DE Taco Charlton to a one-year deal and waived S Avery Young. Charlton was a first-round pick by Dallas in 2017 and has 11 1/2 sacks in 60 career games. ... T Jaylon Moore left practice early with an apparent left knee injury. ... Rookie K Jake Moody made a 60-yard FG to end practice. Moody was 5 for 6 overall, with his miss coming from 43 yards.
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