The San Francisco 49ers finished the 2024 season with a horrendous 6-11 record, but they were an average team by sack percentage, taking down opposing quarterbacks on 6.69% of their dropbacks, good for 18th in the league last season.
While losing Leonard Floyd, Dre Greenlaw, De’Vondre Campbell and Khalil Davis from their front seven over the offseason didn’t help things, the 49ers also added some capable players to Robert Saleh’s defense that could help them get better results in 2025.
Among those players is defensive lineman C.J. West, who the 49ers took in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft out of Indiana. The former Hoosier spent his first four collegiate seasons at Kent State, earning All-MAC honors once, before transferring to Indiana for the 2024 season.
The 23-year-old has been dominating the team’s recent training camp sessions, setting himself up for an opportunity to play a much larger role than originally expected when he arrived in San Francisco back in April.
If what West is doing on the field isn’t enough to sell 49ers fans on him being the real deal, his answer to who he’s most looking forward to sacking in the NFL may.
“That’s a tough one,” West told John Chapman on the “49ers Rush” podcast earlier this offseason. “Any quarterback that plays for the Seattle Seahawks. I don’t care who they put on the field. Any quarterback that plays on the Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle is expected to start Sam Darnold in 2025, after trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders and signing the former first-round pick to a $100 million deal this offseason. However, they also have veteran backup Drew Lock and third-round pick Jalen Milroe on the roster as potential victims of West’s interior pass rush.
West may not have to wait long to get that first career sack against on San Francisco’s biggest rivals, as the two teams face off in Week 1 at Lumen Field.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers rookie endears himself to fan base by targeting big rival
Reporting by Mike Masala, Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
