Jarrett
Kingston.
Jarrett
Kingston.
USC· 6'4"· 306 lb· 5.02s 40
"Six college seasons, four positions and two programs produced the most useful thing a sixth-round lineman can own: nobody has to explain where he lines up, only whether he can hold the point."Pre-draft read
Kingston is a 6-4, 306-pound guard who spent six college seasons moving up and down the line: left guard at Washington State, left tackle for a game, then right guard and right tackle at USC. He is a movement blocker first — quick out of his stance, comfortable reaching a shaded nose in wide zone, and good climbing to the second level on the move.
In pass protection he mirrors well laterally and rarely gets beaten by a quick swipe, but the anchor is the ceiling: bull rushers get into his chest and walk him back before he can reset his feet. The 36-rep bench says the strength exists; the tape says he does not always play to it. What separates him is the positional flexibility — five different jobs on tape, none of them a disaster.
Wide-zone and outside-zone running games — the Kyle Shanahan tree, which is literally the offense that drafted him. He needs a scheme that asks him to reach, climb and cut off rather than displace.
Year 1: seventh or eighth lineman, active on game day as the interior swing backup and jumbo package body. Ceiling: a long-term OL6/OL7 who can start six or eight games in a zone offense without the season falling apart.
A duo/gap-heavy front like the Ravens or Eagles ask their guards to move 330-pound nose tackles off the ball on down blocks — the exact rep where his anchor and play strength show up as a liability.
His value is roster math, not snaps: a team that runs zone and needs one backup to cover both guard spots and emergency tackle gets three jobs out of one contract.
Jarrett Kingston Right Guard/Tackle Highlights
USC cut-ups at both right guard and right tackle — the flexibility that made the draft case, and the anchor reps that capped it.
Watch 49ers sixth-round draft pick Jarrett Kingston's college highlights
The reel San Francisco's audience got on draft night: zone reaches, climbs to the second level and work in space.
Jarrett Kingston Scouting Report
Rep-by-rep breakdown of the pass sets, with the short-arm and anchor concerns shown rather than asserted.
A six-year college lineman who arrived at the draft with the resume of a coach's son and the frame of a backup: light on his feet, sharp between the ears, and short on the raw power that lets an NFL guard survive a one-on-one against a 320-pound three-technique.
He redshirted at Washington State in 2018, worked into the rotation in 2019, then started every game he was healthy for from 2020 on — four in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, all 13 in 2021, and nine in 2022 before an injury ended his year and still earned him honorable-mention All-Pac-12. He considered the 2023 draft, opted instead for a final year at USC, and started 11 of 12 games there while bouncing between right guard and right tackle, giving up four sacks in the process. The flags were consistent across both stops: short arms for tackle, an anchor that gives ground against power, and an age profile that meant what you saw was close to what you were getting.
The board treated him as an early day-three swing interior lineman — a smart, scheme-specific backup who could dress on game day at three spots. San Francisco took him 215th precisely because the wide-zone offense values his footwork more than his pop.
- 01
Positional flexibility
Real starting tape at left guard, left tackle, right guard and right tackle across two programs, which is the entire case for a sixth-round lineman.
- 02
Zone footwork
Quick, clean first step out of his stance; reaches shaded defenders and gets to his landmarks in wide zone without wasted motion.
- 03
Second level
Comfortable climbing to linebackers and adjusting on the move, one of the harder things to teach a guard and the reason he fits a movement offense.
- 04
Lateral mirror
Slides well in pass protection and holds up against quickness and swipe moves, rarely losing a rep to pure speed inside.
- 05
Experience and IQ
Six seasons, two schemes and a 36-rep bench; he processes stunts and games fast and is not surprised by NFL protection calls.
- 01
Anchor
Power rushers get into his frame and walk him into the pocket; the functional strength does not match the weight-room number.
- 02
Arm length
Short arms for the position mean rushers reach his chest first, which is what pushed him inside for good as a pro.
- 03
Play strength at the point
Struggles to displace anyone in a gap scheme; he is a positioner rather than a mover in the run game.
- 04
Age and runway
Entered the league at 24 after six college seasons, so there was little projection left in the profile beyond what the tape showed.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.02sp50
- Vertical
- 31.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 111inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.53sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.47sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Washington State | 1 |
| 2019 | Washington State | 10 |
| 2020 | Washington State | 4 |
| 2021 | Washington State | 13 |
| 2022 | Washington State | 9 |
| 2023 | USC | 12 |
| Career | — | 49 |
Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics, so this table tracks appearances and starts only. Season games sum exactly to the 49-game career total. Career starts are left null rather than zero-filled or guessed: the 2019 start count is not published by Washington State, so the verified starts across the other five seasons (37) are a floor, not a total. Sources: Washington State and USC official bios plus the school's 2024 draft release.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
The likeliest version and a near-identical profile: a day-three zone lineman who lives as the interior swing backup, spot-starts when needed, and sticks on rosters for years.
The ceiling: a zone-scheme guard who converts a developmental start into a multi-year starting job and a real free-agent contract.
The floor: a sixth-round interior lineman who spends four years on one-year deals and waiver claims without ever locking down a game-day role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The 49ers drafted him for their scheme and then cut him before he ever played for them, waiving him on August 27, 2024 as part of the initial 53. Carolina claimed him off waivers the next day and he made seven appearances as a reserve interior lineman across the 2024 season without starting. The Panthers waived him again on August 26, 2025, re-signed him to the practice squad, and Houston signed him off that practice squad on September 30, 2025. He finished 2025 with two regular-season appearances and a wild-card game, played 32 offensive snaps, and did not allow a single pressure in that sample. The Texans re-signed him on February 21, 2026 on a one-year deal worth roughly $1.1 million, and he entered 2026 as a swing interior backup at #63.
This is what a good sixth-round outcome usually looks like from the outside: unglamorous, and still a win. He has been claimed, signed off a practice squad and re-signed by a playoff team in three years, which is the market telling you the flexibility is real. The anchor concern was correct — nobody has trusted him with starts — but the football intelligence and the ability to dress at multiple spots have kept him employed. That is the job description he was drafted into, and he is doing it.
Data note: Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics, so this table tracks appearances and starts only. Season games sum exactly to the 49-game career total. Career starts are left null rather than zero-filled or guessed: the 2019 start count is not published by Washington State, so the verified starts across the other five seasons (37) are a floor, not a total. Sources: Washington State and USC official bios plus the school's 2024 draft release.