As the San Francisco 49ers aim to re-open their Super Bowl window, one major key for them will be finding high quality talent late in the NFL draft.
One of their Day 3 picks from this year’s draft, defensive tackle CJ West, didn’t need long to make his mark on his new defense. The 49ers put pads on for the first time this offseason at Monday’s practice and West was one of the big winners of the day.
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner described on Twitter why West shined in the first padded session:
There was one obvious standout today: rookie DT C.J. West. I had West winning cleanly and (mostly) decisively in all five of his reps. He did it against a different bunch of OL including Matt Hennessy, Zack Johnson, Drew Moss and Connor Colby. Lest anyone think he only succeeded against backups, West’s best rep might have been against Dominick Puni. West’s strong hands knocked Puni back quickly and he then transitioned to a quick rip move with his hands to blow past for the win. It’s way too early but West looks like a good candidate to be a third-down rusher inside next to Mykel Williams.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh hadn’t gotten to evaluate the session before he spoke with reporters, but he noted some of the characteristics that flashed as part of West’s strong outing.
“Yeah. I mean, he’s like a little fire hydrant, right?” Saleh said. “But, he’s powerful. He’s got heavy hands. He’s going to be fine. He’s like a lot of rookies, there are so many things that they’re learning, especially on the interior of the D-Line where it’s a game within a game. You know, the first thing they learn is pocket push and then they learn how to capture an edge and rush from there. I wasn’t there. I heard he did a really nice job over there, but I’m excited to get to the tape to see it.”
The 49ers also drafted defensive tackle Alfred Collins in the second round, but he’s a much bigger, different style of player than West. At Indiana West was a force as a run stuffer and flashed some upside as a pass rusher. He continued flashing that upside in his first NFL practice in pads. Now he’ll need to translate it to team reps, joint practices and preseason games if he’s going to make a push for a starting role in his rookie year.
If he does wind up starting and making an impact out of the gate, it would be a much-needed early win for the 49ers with the 2025 NFL draft class.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers rookies: DT CJ West shines in 1st padded training camp practice