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49ers guard Connor Colby shows speed on George Kittle's long touchdown
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- 49ers guard Connor Colby shows speed on George Kittle's long touchdown
49ers guard Connor Colby shows speed on George Kittle's long touchdown originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SANTA CLARA — Left guard Connor Colby even surprised himself on Sunday in the 49ers' Week 4 victory over the Denver Broncos.
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Colby, who won the starting job on the 49ers' offensive line to open the regular season, is a key member of the group that has not allowed a sack through the first four games of the season.
But it was his brief sprint in the fourth quarter on the game-clinching play that was the talk of the locker room.
"I've never been that fast before, and I don't think I ever want to reach it again," Colby told NBC Sports Bay Area.
While tight end George Kittle was en route to his 56-yard sprint to the end zone after taking a short pass from Brock Purdy, Colby had the second-most impressive athletic feat on the play.
According to the team's GPS readings, Colby topped out at 18.5 mph as he ran down the field and contemplated a block on former 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga.
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"There was a period of time, right there, where him and Huf definitely did look a little stride-for-stride," 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said. "It was maybe for only a couple yards, but I did see it."
"I wouldn't say I was necessarily gaining on him," Colby said of his sprint alongside Hufanga. "I was just trying to make a block, but then I realized once I got up there, anything I did probably would have been a penalty. So I figured, I'd just let George run."
Kittle, by the way, reached a top speed of 19.84 mph on the touchdown play, which extended the 49ers' lead to 10 points with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Colby demonstrated the requisite athleticism coming out of Iowa. He ran a time of 5.11 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. The 49ers selected him in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He started 50 games during his college career, the second-most for an offensive lineman in Iowa history.
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Colby started six games for the 49ers as a rookie, and he won the starting job after a tight competition in training camp this summer. Colby might have saved his top speed for a game when he had a chance to make a block down the field.
"The guy's definitely an athlete," 49ers center Jake Brendel said. "He might not look it with his hair and his style, but, I mean, there's definitely a reason the front office and the coaches liked him. He can run. He can run wide zone. He's a good player."
Williams rejected the label of "sneaky athletic" to describe Colby.
"I wouldn't say that," Williams said. "I think he's just athletic. The mullet makes it worse. But if you work closely with him and see him, you know he's an athlete, for sure."
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As for the competition of which 49ers offensive lineman is the fastest, well, there does not appear to be much of a debate. Everyone agrees that even at 38, Williams can still run better than anyone.
And Williams voted for himself, too.
"I'm definitely faster than that," he said.
Could he top 20 mph?
"I wouldn't say over 20," Williams said. "You're pushing it. But I can get close to that, though."
