49ers 90-in-90: Setting reasonable expectations for CJ West’s rookie season

We’re finally kicking off our 90-in-90 series for 2025. We’ll do things a little differently this year by bouncing around based on jersey numbers. We’ll go back and forth from the highest number to the lowest. So, today, we’ll start with No. 99, and tomorrow will be No. 0, and so on.

The San Francisco 49ers drafted nose tackle CJ West in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The depth along the defensive line had been depleted, thanks to the Niners failing to use a draft pick on one in the 2024 draft after going the free agency route. Let’s set some realistic expectations for the rookie who figures to play plenty in Year 1.

Basic Info

Age: 23 (His birthday is June 12)

Experience: Rookie

Height: 6’1

Weight: 316 pounds

Cap Status

West’s base salary in 2025 is $840,000. His contract value is $5.2 million, which is spread out over four years. His contract can be renegotiated after the third year.

Simmering expectations for West

Defensive line is one of the most difficult positions to transition to for numerous reasons. The Seattle Seahawks used a first-round pick on Byron Murphy in 2024, and he finished the season with more missed tackles than tackles for loss and quarterback hits.

The Commanders drafted Jer’Zhan Newton at the top of the second round, and he finished the season with two sacks. Most players take a leap in their second season after flashing as rookies. Exceptions to the rule came in the NFC West, with Jared Verse and Braden Fiske. Verse has DPOY potential, while Fiske had 8.5 sacks and 45 pressures.

What can we expect from West? If he has a stat line or trajectory close to T’Vondre Sweat, an early second-round pick in 2024, the 49ers would be head over heels. Sweat had 51 tackles and 21 pressures at nose tackle. That also feels like an outlier season.

West will presumably have an opportunity to see the field early and often. He’s competing with UDFA Evan Anderson and journeyman Jordan Elliott. West received high praise last week from defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who said West was “advanced for where he’s at this stage in his career.”

The Jets played an undrafted free agent rookie at defensive tackle last season, who might be the best comparison for who West could turn out to be as a rookie. Lenoard Taylor III had 24 tackles, eight QB hits, and 11 pressures as a rookie. That would be a “win” for the 49ers if West turned in that kind of production.

West played five years of college ball. According to Sports Info Solutions metrics, he improved as a player every season, including this past year when he took the jump from Indiana to Kent State. That experience will help West.

The best defenses during the Kyle Shanahan era were stout down the spine. That has not been the case in the previous two seasons. You could argue the Niners haven’t been the same against the run since D.J. Jones left after the 2021 season. Jones, a Day 3 pick, did the dirty work by eating blockers and freeing up linebackers behind him. If West can develop into that kind of player, the run defense should transform back into the unit it was when Robert Saleh was in his first stint with the 49ers.