The San Francisco 49ers selected Alfred Collins 43rd overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. That round had multiple impact rookies. Nick Emmanwori, Quinshon Judkins for a bit, TreVeyon Henderson, Luther Burden, and Tyler Shough to an extent. Those players were selected ahead of Collins.
After the Collins pick, there isn’t a clear-cut “The 49ers should’ve selected this player” option. That’ll avoid any hindsight arguments a year or two from now. The only thing that matters now is that Collins plays up to his draft
status.
In October 2025, Frank Gore tabbed Collins as the player with potential to turn into a big-time player:
I think…the d-lineman from Texas. He’s taking steps. I think he can be a big-time player. As he keeps going, I think he can be a big-time player. He made that play, it helped him a whole lot to show him that he can play in this league.
The timing worked out well, as that was after Collins had the game-saving forced fumble against the Rams in Week 5.
The hope was that play would be used as a springboard for Collins’ trajectory as a rookie. Unfortunately, we never saw that. A hip injury kept Collins from playing in Week 10.
He was never going to be the type of player to stuff a stat sheet at 332 pounds. Collins’ impact doesn’t show up in the box score. His best analytical performances came late in the season, which should give the organization hope for what’s to come. Collins registered a sack late in the season against the Colts, and also had a quarterback hit and a pressure. There were only three games as a rookie in which Collins had multiple hurries.
Basic Info
Age: 23
Experience: 1 accrued season
Height: 6’6
Weight: 332 pounds
Cap Status
Collins enters the second year of his rookie contract. His cap number jumps to $2.34 million in 2026, up from $1.87 million last year. That’s due to the increase in his base salary. The prorated signing bonus remains the same for all four years. That figure is set at $1.033 million.
Is Collins’ style of play worthy of a top-50 pick?
The 49ers made moves this offseason to ensure Collins doesn’t need to be relied on as a pass rusher. Osa Odighizuwa and Gracen Halton will play on obvious passing downs. Collins will help the team get there with his ability to stop the run. But shouldn’t we be asking whether Collins’ skill set is the type of player you use a top-50 draft pick on?
Recent high-end examples of these players making an impact include Jordan Davis and Vita Vea. Those two weren’t just space eaters. They won their 1-on-1 battles and made teams think twice about running it between the guards. As a defensive coordinator, that changes everything.
A more realistic comp would be T’Vondre Sweat. Yes, there’s a 35-pound or so difference, but Sweat found ways to impact the quarterback and make plays in the backfield. Sweat had 51 and 35 tackles in his first two seasons. Collins had 17 as a rookie.
Adding a player like Collins in the top-50 depends on your roster. The 49ers have not been a good run defense during the past few seasons. Zooming out, if you can get a player who is stout against the run and you have a Collins-sized hole at defensive tackle, it makes sense to select him.
Year 2 will tell us what kind of player Collins will turn out to be. There were flashes as a rookie, but those were few and far between. In fairness to him, the defensive line and defense in general will look much different in 2026 than they did in 2025. That’ll only help Collins.
