49ers hope they filled their major defensive holes during the NFL draft

By Canadian Press on April 26, 2025.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — After watching several starters leave for other teams at the start of the free agent period, the San Francisco 49ers had some glaring holes on their defensive depth chart.

After taking defensive players with their first five picks in the NFL draft, the Niners hope they have filled those spots and can get back to being the dominant defense they were before a major drop off last season.

“It was a very important draft,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Saturday. “We haven’t really been in a situation like this. That’s why it was a little more nerve-racking because we were counting on getting a lot of guys instead of just coming in and adding depth.”

San Francisco lost key defensive players Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Talanoa Hufanga, Leonard Floyd, Maliek Collins and Javon Hargrave last month.

The 49ers opened the draft by taking Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams with the 11th overall pick. They then added Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins, Oklahoma State linebacker Nick Martin and Western Kentucky cornerback Upton Stout on day two before taking Indiana defensive tackle C.J. West with their first pick in the fourth round on Saturday.

Now they need at least some of those players to step in immediately and make an impact, especially on the thin defensive line.

“We felt it was important to to restock and not just with guys,” general manager John Lynch said. “We wanted to put guys that fit our vision for what we want that room to be.”

Da

y 3 picks

The Niners had seven picks on day three. After starting the day by taking West, they took two offensive players next in speedy receiver Jordan Watkins in the fourth round and running back Jordan James in the fifth. San Francisco then took safety Marques Sigle later in the fifth before grabbing quarterback Kurtis Rourke, guard Connor Colby and receiver Junior Bergen in the seventh round.

History making

This was just the second time in franchise history that San Francisco used its first five picks on defensive players. The Niners also did it in 1981 when they took Ronnie Lott, John Harty, Eric Wright, Carlton Williamson and Lynn Thomas. Lott, Wright and Williamson became day one starters in the secondary and helped the Niners win the Super Bowl as rookies.

“We can dream,” Lynch said. “That would be awesome. That would be awesome.”

Stop the run

Fixing a leaky run defense was the biggest priority for the Niners and their front seven picks all excel at that aspect of their game. Williams, Collins, Martin and West are all viewed as better players in the run game than as pass rushers. The 49ers’ once stout run defense has regressed in recent years with the 4.45 yards per carry allowed last season more than 1 yard higher than the 3.4 average in 2022.

Saleh’s influence

The first step in rebuilding the defense came when San Francisco brought back Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator to replace the fired Nick Sorensen. Saleh helped build a strong defense for the Niners when he was coordinator from 2017-20 and now is back after a stint as head coach of the Jets. Lynch said Saleh had a big voice in the draft moves.

“Saleh’s got a lot of input,” Lynch said. “We always kind of refresh as a staff on what we’re looking for. I think the impressive thing about Saleh, we have a system and the core and the fundamentals of that stay consistent, but hopefully we’re always evolving. I think Robert’s really into that and we do a good job. He does a nice job of communicating that.”

Offensive line

The 49ers had questions on the offensive line but didn’t address the position until their second pick of the seventh round at 249th overall with Colby. San Francisco has an opening at left guard after Aaron Banks left as a free agent, is in need of a swing tackle after losing Jaylon Moore and could have used upgrades at center.

Lynch said they were interested in adding linemen earlier but the draft didn’t fall that way.

“It just didn’t align but you don’t want to force things,” he said.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Josh Dubow, The Associated Press

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