Colton
Mckivitz.
Colton
Mckivitz.
West Virginia· 6'6"· 306 lb· 5.35s 40
"He gave up one sack on 792 snaps at left tackle for the worst offense in the Big 12, then tested like a backup, and the tape was the truer document."Pre-draft read
McKivitz is a tall, long-limbed tackle who wins with technique and positioning rather than raw power. West Virginia moved him from right tackle to the left side as a senior and he handled the switch immediately, playing 792 of the 801 offensive snaps and allowing a single sack all year. His hands are placed on time and his pass sets are clean and repeatable.
The secondary trait is versatility. He has real snaps at both tackle spots and took guard reps at the Senior Bowl, which gives a line coach three ways to use him. He is a better position blocker than a displacer in the run game, reaching defenders and sustaining rather than moving them, and his athletic testing says developmental swing tackle more than plug-in starter.
Wide zone rushing offense with play-action protection that prizes angles, timing and reach blocks over raw power
Year 1 swing tackle and sixth lineman; ceiling is a long-term starting right tackle in a zone scheme
A gap-and-power offense that asks tackles to down block and drive defensive ends off the ball, or a pure dropback attack that isolates him against elite speed rushers
The 49ers fit was ideal: a year of development behind established starters followed by a right tackle job in exactly the scheme his tape suited.
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Former NFL tackle reviews his technique and combination blocking on the right side.
McKivitz is a five-year college tackle with a starter resume and a specialist body of work in pass protection. He appeared in 50 games with 47 starts for West Virginia, ten as a redshirt freshman, then 13, 12 and 12 in his final three seasons. He started 13 games at right tackle as a sophomore, 12 more there as a junior and all 12 at left tackle as a senior, which is unusual continuity for a Day 3 lineman.
The senior season is the case. He graded second in the Big 12 in pass blocking at 83.0, allowed one sack, led the team with 34 knockdown blocks and posted zero missed assignments in six different games, all of it on an offense that finished at the bottom of the conference in scoring and rushing. That production earned Big 12 Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year, first-team all-conference, second-team Walter Camp All-America and third-team Associated Press All-America honors.
The board saw the resume and then saw the testing: 5.35 in the forty, a 26-inch vertical and a 106-inch broad jump, numbers that project a swing tackle rather than a franchise blindside answer. San Francisco took him at 153 with Joe Staley retiring and Trent Williams just acquired, the ideal landing spot for a technician who needed time to develop.
- 01
Pass-protection technique
Graded second in the Big 12 at 83.0 as a senior and allowed only one sack across 792 snaps at left tackle on a bad offense.
- 02
Positional versatility
Started at both right and left tackle in college and took guard reps at the Senior Bowl, giving a line coach three roster answers.
- 03
Length
Nearly 34-inch arms on a 6-6 frame let him keep rushers on the edge of his frame and recover when his first set is slightly off.
- 04
Assignment reliability
Posted zero missed assignments in six games as a senior and was flagged just twice all year, both minor pre-snap penalties.
- 05
Durability and experience
Fifty career games with 47 starts across five seasons, including every offensive snap but nine in his final year.
- 01
Athletic testing
A 5.35 forty, a 26-inch vertical and a 106-inch broad jump all landed in the bottom tier for the position and cap his ceiling on an island.
- 02
Run-game displacement
Sustains and positions rather than uproots, and defenders with a heavy first step can stall him at the point of attack.
- 03
Anchor against power
At around 306 pounds he can be walked back by a long-armed bull rush before he resets his feet and hips.
- 04
Lateral recovery
Once beaten inside by a quick counter he lacks the burst to redirect and has to resort to holding to salvage the rep.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.35sp50
- Vertical
- 26inp50
- Broad jump
- 106inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.87sp50
- Shuttle
- 5.00sp50
- Bench
- 20repp50
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | West Virginia | 13 |
| 2017 | West Virginia | 13 |
| 2018 | West Virginia | 12 |
| 2019 | West Virginia | 12 |
| Career | — | 50 |
Redshirted 2015. Seasons sum to the official 50 games and 47 starts. Started at right tackle in 2017 and 2018 and at left tackle in 2019, when he played 792 of 801 offensive snaps, allowed one sack and was named Big 12 Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Technically sound swing tackle who starts in stretches and holds value across both sides.
Long right tackle who anchors a zone running game without being a premium pass protector.
Developmental tackle whose athletic limits kept him in a rotating backup role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Patience paid off for both sides. McKivitz played 14 games as a rookie in 2020 in a reserve and jumbo role, appeared in one game in 2021, then played 13 in 2022 while filling in on the right side. When Mike McGlinchey left in free agency, San Francisco handed him the starting right tackle job and he answered with 17 starts in 2023, another 17 in 2024 and a full 17-game season in 2025. Over his first five years he logged 62 regular season games with 39 starts and eight playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl run. In September 2025 the 49ers signed him to a three-year extension through 2028.
In hindsight this is a model Day 3 offensive line pick. Nothing about the athletic profile suggested a long-term starter, but the technique, the experience and the fit in a wide zone offense that values angles over raw power carried him. He is not a Pro Bowl tackle and he has been the soft spot in a very good line in some weeks, yet a fifth-round pick who starts three straight seasons at right tackle and earns a second contract is a clear hit.