The San Francisco 49ers traded a linebacker they selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, as Dee Winters entered the final year of his contract. Winters looked the part last season, playing alongside Fred Warner for the first month and a half of the season.
You could only point to one blemish, and that was more a case of Winters playing in a difficult spot against the Rams than of him being a bad matchup. Winters took his lumps so the rest of the defense could flourish.
It’s not a 1-for-1
swap for 2026, but the 49ers drafted Jaden Dugger in the fifth round in hopes that he could be an asset on defense at some point over the next couple of years.
Dugger has the foundation you’re looking for to play the position. He’ll need to improve his processing, willingness to take on blocks, and overall tenacity and instincts. But you can’t teach his speed, frame, or ability to tackle. There’s plenty to work with for the 49ers coaching staff.
The 49ers have a new linebackers coach. Well, kinda. K.J. Wright holds that title this season, although it’s a position he’s been hands-on with since joining the 49ers. Wright had nothing but positive things to say about Dugger on Tuesday.
It didn’t take long for Wright to want Dugger. He said, “I kid you not, when I watched Dugger and the first 15 plays, I was like, ‘I’ve got to have this dude. I’ve got to have him. I just looked at his frame, I looked at his speed, and he had this one play that not too many linebackers can make. It was a reverse. It started to his right, and it went to his left. Most guys are late on reverses, but I saw this guy move to his right, and he went to his left so quick.”
Dugger had himself a week at the East-West Shrine game. That’s likely how he first landed on the 49ers radar:
Wright spoke about a few traits of Dugger’s you can see in the clip above that he found during the evaluation process: “So, long, athletic, smart. His football IQ is something that you all are going to love about him. Really, really smart linebacker, and really good player. I fell in love in the first 15 plays.”
Wright was one of the most underrated linebackers of the 2010s. If he says a linebacker is smart, we should take his word for it.
What Dugger has working in his favor is versatility. Wright said the team knows what they’re getting from Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, but that other linebacker needs to be versatile: “They’re going to be here, they’re going to be there. You gotta be asked to do different things in different situations. You gotta be able to have a nice toolbox to stay on the football field.”
Wright believes Dugger is similiar to himself: “Both tall. He’s faster than I am. He’s longer. I know I’m a long guy, but he’s got these long arms. But I really love smart linebackers, guys that can see the game good. Guys that can anticipate plays is something that I love. When I saw that from Dugger — he can bed as well. So watch Dugger when he makes tackles. A lot of guys play high, really high. He’s a guy that can bend, sink in his hips, and find a way to still make really good plays.”
Wright acknowledged Dugger “has a ways to go,” but added “this guy’s going to be a really, really, sepcial player.”
