Eric Saubert is Leading the 49ers' Backup Tight End Competition

Eric Saubert caught just three passes for the Houston Texans last season, but he still played 20 percent of their offensive snaps because he's a quality run blocker.

Grant Cohn | Jul 27, 2024

Jan 1, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Eric Saubert (82) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill (22) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers' backup tight end competition isn't a glamorous one.

The winner won't catch many passes this season. Last year's backup tight end, Charlie Woerner, caught just three. But he still played 29 percent of the 49ers' offensive snaps because he was a key blocker in their rushing attack. And now he's on the Atlanta Falcons.

So the 49ers are looking for Woerner's replacement. And the candidates are Cameron Latu, Brayden Willis, Logan Thomas and Eric Saubert.

Latu was a third-round pick last season, but he spent the entire year on I.R. and hasn't caught a pass yet in camp, so there's no guarantee he'll make the team.

Willis is a dynamic receiver who seems to have a future, but he's a smaller tight end who will get pushed around if he's blocking on the line of scrimmage.

Logan Thomas caught 55 passes for Washington last season, but he's 33 years old. He might not have much left in the tank.

Eric Saubert caught just three passes for the Houston Texans last season, but he still played 20 percent of their offensive snaps because he's a quality run blocker. And that's why he's leading the 49ers' backup tight end competition -- they're a run-first team. When George Kittle had the day off on Friday, Saubert replaced him in the starting lineup.

If Kittle were to miss a game or two, the 49ers likely would go with a platoon of players at tight end -- Saubert to block and Thomas or Willis to catch passes.

Published Jul 27, 2024

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.