Defense continued to be the trend for the San Francisco 49ers with their first of two fourth-round selections in the NFL Draft, as the team made it five defensive selections in a row with the addition of interior lineman C.J. West of Indiana University at pick 113 overall.

West (6-1, 316) was the second defensive tackle selected by the 49ers in this draft, joining second-round pick Alfred Collins of Texas.


In West, the 49ers are getting another guy who fits the mold of defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and another player who should help add needed improvement to the team's run defense. Let's take a look at what 49ers fans should know about their newest defensive lineman.

VIOLENCE!


49ers fans know all about Saleh's desire to bring violence to his defenses. West seems to be all about that himself.

At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, West singled out his violent play as the thing that would translate most to his NFL career.

"I'm a very violent player," West said. "I'm very violent in my hands too. I feel that's will really transfer to the next level. And I've got really quick hands and quick feet. I feel that will do well for me when I play in the NFL."

Take a look at West's brand of violence in action below:




Influenced by a former 49er


West was asked at the NFL Scouting Combine which players he liked to watch and model his game after. West grew up in Chicago, where he was a teammate of Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy at Nazareth Academy. So it comes as no surprise that he watched a lot of former Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks. But he also started watching former 49ers defensive tackle Maliek Collins last season.

"I'm a Chicago guy, so I watched Akiem Hicks," West said. "I watched Akiem Hicks, Grady Jarrett, Quinnen Williams is a guy I watched a lot, and recently I just watched Maliek (Collins) -- he's the 49ers guy. He's a great three-tech pass rusher, and just kind of picking up all the little things he's been doing and elevate my game in that way."

Strong pre-draft showing


West benefited from a standout performance at the East-West Shrine Game, then followed that up with a good showing at the combine.

West ran a 4.95-second 40-yard dash (1.73-second 10-yard split) with a 33-inch vertical jump. He ranked third in NFL.com's Athleticism Score among defensive tackles.


Watch below:


A move matching his mentality


West spent most of his college career at Kent State, where he totaled 110 tackles and seven sacks while earning third-team All-MAC honors in 2023. He then transferred to Indiana, where he joined a group of unheralded and overlooked players just like him.

"We all had been kind of the underdogs for most of our life," West said at the combine. "We all had the underdog mindset and proving everybody wrong. When I walked into the weight room for the first time, I'm like 'Man, all these guys are just like me.' I came from Kent State, they came from JMU, ODU, those smaller schools. They didn't really care about stars, they didn't really care about the special stuff. They just cared about working and going to prove everybody wrong.

West helped the Hoosiers to an improbable playoff season, one that was unexpected to almost everyone given Indiana's lack of history as a football power. But it wasn't unexpected to West, who thought right away that the team had something unique.

"I was like, 'This is going to be a special group. They're just like me. Everybody has the same mindset... This is going to be something special that nobody expected to happen," West said.


West comes off as an upbeat, gregarious individual when talking to reporters but knows when it's time to turn that off and go into work mode.

"I'm always the same guy that you're going to see every morning," West said. "I'm going to walk into the facility with a smile on my face, making jokes, and when it's time to work, it's time to work. I'm a guy who's going to do that."

Yet another Kiper sleeper


As was discussed in previous profiles for third-round picks Nick Martin and Upton Stout, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper published a feature in the days before the draft that singled out his favorite players and sleepers at each position. Martin and Stout both made that list, and West makes it three 49ers draft picks in a row to be mentioned in that feature.

"The low man often wins at the line of scrimmage, and West has a low center of gravity and strong hands to get into linemen," Kiper wrote. "His tape shows excellent technique, power and tenacity, which make him difficult to block. And at 6-foot-1 and 316 pounds, he gets enough push to collapse the pocket. I even see some pass-rush upside, though he had just two sacks last season. He ran a solid 4.95 in the 40-yard dash at the combine, so he has the speed to get home on the QB."

Multiple analysts had West going much later than Round 4 on Day 3, but Kiper believed he was worthy of a third-round pick.


"Early Day 3 makes sense, even though I snuck him into our three-round mock draft last week, giving him to the Eagles late on Day 2," Kiper wrote. "He's the DT8 on my Big Board at the moment."

Follow us on: X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram

Read Original Article
Visit 49ers Webzone

More San Francisco 49ers News