It took almost the entirety of the 2025 NFL Draft before the San Francisco 49ers selected an offensive lineman, but they finally did so with their selection of Iowa guard Connor Colby with the second of their three seventh-round picks (249th overall).
Colby (6-6, 309) brings experience to the 49ers as a four-year college starter and perhaps some versatility as well. Here's a look at what to know about Colby as he heads to the Bay Area.
Likely a guard, but he could play just about anywhere
Colby started 50 games for the University of Iowa, most of them at right guard with a few starts at right tackle. But it isn't a given that he winds up at guard in the pros.
Colby told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine that he had been working at center earlier in the winter, and he also thinks he can play some right tackle as well.
"I didn't play any center in college, but since I've been training here for the combine, I've been snapping a lot, getting used to that, and I think I can provide value to any team in that aspect," Colby said. "If they need me to play right tackle in a pinch I think I can do that too."
A good fit
Colby will be looking for a spot among an offensive line group that includes projected starters Trent Williams, Ben Bartch, Dominick Puni, Colton McKivitz, and Jake Brendel, as well as veteran backups Spencer Burford, Matt Hennessy, and Nick Zakelj. He'll face stiff competition in his attempt to make the roster in San Francisco, but he excels in a zone run scheme, which should fit head coach Kyle Shanahan nicely.
"I think it's just my athleticism and speed coming off the ball, the ability to make quick decisions and then climbing up to that second level and walling off defenders that way," said Colby, who ran a 5.11-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I think that's where my strengths are in the zone run scheme."
When the light went on
Colby arrived at Iowa as a four-star prospect out of Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids and was pressed into action early, starting at right guard as a true freshman after enrolling early before being forced to play tackle for a time as a sophomore. It took a while for Colby to settle in, but eventually he became a third-team All-Big Ten selection as a junior in 2023 and a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior.
"About halfway through the season last year, it started to click," Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett said before the 2024 season, per the Cedar Rapids Gazette. "You are talking about a kid who was thrown in as a high school senior and starting at right guard at Iowa. That shouldn't happen, but it happened to him. That's why I have a ton of respect for this kid and what he's been through.
"The next year, we were low on tackles because of the gap in classes and availability, so he kicks out to tackle and plays way out of position. He's an inside guy. He competed his butt off. So last year, about games three or four, you really started to see things click a little bit and him mature."
A mostly positive injury history
Colby playing in 50 games in college demonstrates he's a player with good durability. He's also got a history clear of concussions... for the most part.
"I've only had one concussion when I was in second grade," Colby told the Washed Up Walkons podcast. "I tripped on my own shoelace, head first into a 4x4. I had a big goose egg, but I was fine."
High quality hair
Colby has gotten attention in the past for his mullet, which he first started growing before his days at Iowa.
"It started out I wanted one because my dad had one in high school," Colby said in 2021, per The Athletic. "And now I'm just kind of too lazy to go get a haircut, so it just kind of stays."
Colby's high school coach Brian White was effusive in his mullet praise in 2021, saying, "The boy has an unbelievable mullet. He's got a straight-out-of-the-1980s, curly-in-the-back mullet going. He started growing that right at the end of his sophomore year/beginning of his junior year and it got pretty, pretty good. Then he shaved his head going into this year. I don't know if it was for senior pictures or what, but he's rocking it again. So, he's the mullet kid."
Colby was even asked by a reporter at the combine if he hoped his hair could one day lead to a Head & Shoulders endorsement.
"I'm open to anything," Colby said.