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Why Eric Saubert is Winning the 49ers' Backup Tight End Competition

In Saturday's preseason loss to the Titans, Saubert played 17 snaps and made excellent blocks during runs by Jordan Mason. When Saubert left the game, the rushing attack suffered.

Grant Cohn

Aug 10, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end Eric Saubert (82) makes a catch against the Tennessee Titans during pregame warmups at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 10, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end Eric Saubert (82) makes a catch against the Tennessee Titans during pregame warmups at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
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It's helpful to think of the 49ers' backup tight end as a glorified offensive tackle.

He's a blocker. That's his role in the offense when he's on the field. He might run an occasional route, but he almost never gets the ball. Last season, the 49ers backup tight end was Charlie Woerner, and he caught a whopping three passes for 32 yards. And yet, he played 312 offensive snaps for the 49ers. Which means most of the time, he essentially was a sixth offensive lineman.

Now Woerner is on the Atlanta Falcons and his replacement most likely will be veteran tight end Eric Saubert. Not because Saubert is a dynamic receiver -- he's not. He's slow. He's winning because he's a good blocker.

In Saturday's preseason loss to the Titans, Saubert played 17 snaps and made excellent blocks during runs by Jordan Mason. When Saubert left the game, the rushing attack suffered.

And in training camp practices, Saubert frequently participates in 1-on-1 pass-rushing drills with the offensive linemen and has to block a defensive end by himself. Kyle Shanahan desperately covets tight ends who can block edge rushers during play-action passes. Remember, Shanahan asked former 49ers backup tight end Tyler Kroft to block Eagles edge rusher Haasan Reddick in the NFC Championship game two seasons ago, Kroft predictably whiffed and Reddick tore Purdy's throwing elbow.

Instead of scrapping that play from the playbook, Shanahan simply found another tight end he feels can make that block.

Maybe Shanahan should just use a sixth offensive lineman.

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Grant Cohn
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.

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