49ers sign RB Khalil Herbert and former Colts 6th-round edge rusher; waive Eli Apple
“Herbert played sparingly in 2025 with the Jets. The 28-year-old was once viewed as a promising, big-play threat. He entered the NFL with 4.48 speed, but injuries have since zapped some of that explosive ability.
Herbert will likely spell Kaelon Black and Patrick Taylor in the preseason, assuming we don’t see much of Christian McCaffrey.”
This week, Herbert referred to his vision as a running back as “God’s gift.”
It’s how he explains his ability to find running lanes and more on the field. The Bears have enhanced it.
“We work on those things throughout the week, too,” Herbert said. “(Running backs coach David Walker) says, ‘A lot of people say you can’t teach vision.’ But he works on it to help us get our eyes right in the right place and help the O-line put them in a place to succeed.”
….His ability to identify landmarks on the defense, plant his foot and get upfield are part of that. Getsy describes Herbert as having a “cool patience about him.”
“That’s as much as anything,” Getsy said. “I think Coach ‘Walk’ does a great job with those guys and training their eyes where they’re supposed to be. But I think Khalil’s got a really cool patience about him, that he’s able to kind of let things happen and make it feel like he’s not necessarily going full speed but he is, which then allows him to make cuts and read off the blocks of guys really well.”
….“When you start getting into rhythm, you start feeling the game more, feeling how the defense is playing, feeling how the O-line is blocking,” Herbert said. “And as that starts building up, you kind of just feel it. You’re able to feel how the game’s going and feel where there’s empty space once you get in rhythm.”
Khalil Herbert and Virginia Tech found what they were looking for in each other (paywall)
“When he did make weight, he lined up on the offensive line, later moving to defensive line and linebacker as he moved through middle school. It wasn’t until high school that his athleticism started to shine and the seeds of a future at running back were planted….. Like when he was younger, getting past those pudgier days, he works at it. [QB Hendon] Hooker, who is Herbert’s roommate, was heading in to watch film last weekend, as quarterbacks do, so the running back decided to join him.
“His work ethic is just incredible,” Hooker said. “The way he can break down defenses while watching film and then implement it in the game is incredible.”
“Those times kind of waiting and having to sit behind, I kind of learned a lot just about myself and about the game studying those guys and learning different moves, techniques, different things they do kind of helped me out, helped me to be where I am right now,” Herbert said. “So, everything works out in perfect timing, I think. This is just working out how everything’s supposed to work out.”
That studiousness was forged by his parents, who stressed education and hard work throughout his life. Khari Sr. is an engineer who specializes in power generation and diesel mechanics. Khalil, who got a degree in business administration at Kansas, is pursuing a Masters of Information Technology at Virginia Tech.
“He’s one of them types of people that when he gets serious about something, he’s all in,” Khari Sr. said. “He dissects and he studies, because he just always wants to be ahead of the game, more or less. But that’s with everything, not just football.”
49ers’ Dre Greenlaw details brutal road that included depression, 2 games in 614 days (paywall)
“I don’t have to go out there and do more,” Greenlaw said. “I don’t have to go prove it to nobody. … I have to go play football still. But I don’t have to go out there and overdo and prove to them that I’m a football player, or who I am as a person. I think that’s going to help a lot.”
Greenlaw tore his Achilles during the 49ers’ overtime Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs after the 2023 season. After a 10-month rehab, he played in two late-season games during the 2024 season before his quadriceps travails delayed his Denver debut last year to mid-October.
“Going to Broncos, I’m thinking ‘This is the year I’m finally going to make it happen,’” he said.
Greenlaw is confident this will be the year he finally makes it happen. It nearly has to be. He knows a third consecutive injury-plagued season could leave him with limited options in free agency in 2027, when he will turn 30.
For now, Greenlaw said he has not felt this good physically since January 2024, when his Achilles began bothering him in the weeks before the Super Bowl.
“It’s been one (injury) after another, one after another, and I’ve just been playing catch-up the whole time,” Greenlaw said. “But I just feel like I’m where I need to be now.”
Report: 49ers work out veteran edge rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo
“The veteran pass rusher has 17.5 sacks over his eight-year NFL career, including 7.5 sacks during his two seasons with the Browns. He recorded 4.5 sacks in 2023 and another three in 2024. His best season was in 2022 when he had five sacks with the Texans. Okoronkwo had no sacks last season, but only appeared in one game for the Eagles.”
49ers work out two more defensive players, including former Cardinals draft pick
“Carter has spent time with the Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, and Washington Commanders. He originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Army following the 2023 NFL Draft and has experience playing as an edge rusher.
Thomas is a former Arizona Cardinals edge rusher who entered the NFL as a fifth-round draft pick out of Clemson in 2024. He spent his college career as a productive pass rusher and was viewed as an intriguing developmental prospect coming out of Clemson.”
