CJ West would be forgiven for feeling satisfied with his efforts in his rookie season with the 49ers.
As a fourth-round pick, West was a consistent feature on the 49er defensive line in 2025 as San Francisco embraced its youth on defense, and he made obvious strides as his role became increasingly prominent over the second half of season.
For as much as the 49er run defense struggled mightily in the wake of Mykel Williams’ season-ending ACL injury, West and Alfred Collins displayed plenty of promise
as defensive tackles who can eat up space and hold their ground against double teams.
In that sense, West lived up to the billing as a player who can be a long-term fix to a problem that has plagued the 49ers in recent times.
However, satisfaction is not an emotion West feels in reflecting on his rookie year.
Instead, West is already focusing on making improvements so he can enjoy a huge Year 2 leap.
Speaking last week, West told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area:
“Year 2, I mean, I need to have one of the biggest jumps I had in my football career. I’m just really bringing my game to the next level, being more dominant in the pass rush, dominating the run even more than I did, affecting the quarterback in different ways. You know, pushing the pocket in his face, making him have to roll out so that Nick [Bosa] can get a sack, so that Mykel [Williams] can get a sack, or freeing up Alfred [Collins]. Just changing the game in that way would make a big difference in our scheme and in our team.”
And while the raw numbers might suggest otherwise, West has reason to be confident of becoming a dominant interior defender in 2026.
West finished the regular season with just one sack to his name before adding another in the 49ers’ postseason exit at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. However, in terms of winning his rushes, West was one of the better rookie interior defensive linemen in the league.
Indeed, among interior defensive linemen with at least 50 pass rush snaps to their name in 2025, West finished sixth in pass rush win rate. His win rate of 8.6% was hardly spectacular, but it was just a tick below that of fifth overall pick Mason Graham (9.0%), per Pro Football Focus.
On true pass sets, West’s win rate of 13.6% was comfortably superior to that of Graham (11.5%), albeit with the noteworthy caveat that West had only 68 true pass set snaps compared to 212 for Graham.
Those numbers speak to the upside West has on pass rush snaps. He is a pass rusher who can produce significant knockback power because of the natural leverage advantage he often has as a result of being a slightly smaller defensive lineman, and he blends that with impressive hand usage.
In run defense, the returns were more tangible, with West and Collins regularly demonstrating their prowess in plugging run lanes to the point where taking them off the field on run downs proved to be the 49ers’ detriment in the second half of the regular season and in the playoffs.
It would be premature to say that West is on course to become a three-down player. Yet the high floor he displayed as a run defender as a rookie indicated that further success in that area may simply be a case of him becoming an even more prominent part of the D-Line rotation.
As a pass rusher, the road to dominance may not be so simple. However, after a rookie year in which the raw production belied the flashes of production, there’s reason for optimism West can take some significant steps on that path in Year 2. If he continues on his current trajectory, West’s numbers should be much more impressive in 2026.
