The San Francisco 49ers might have come away with one of the steals of the 2026 NFL draft.
In a piece highlighting some of the draft's most unexpected stars of the early season, Sports Illustrated's Justin Melo pointed to 49ers fourth-round defensive tackle Gracen Halton.
Via Sports Illustrated:
San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive lineman Gracen Halton is already playing an underrated role. He's converted 92 snaps into nine tackles, four run stops, three quarterback pressures, and a pass breakup. Halton is disengaging around the line of scrimmage and showcasing terrific hustle and effort. He's going to be a really good player.
The 49ers are lucky the No. 107 overall selection has hit the ground running in the regular season after dealing with an
ankle injury that cost him most of his first training camp. Halton was always pegged for a rotational role, but injuries to Alfred Collins, CJ West and undrafted rookie James Thompson Jr. have thrust Halton into the spotlight.
He played 31 snaps in his professional debut, good for 50.8 percent of the work. In his second game that number ticked up to 32 snaps and 54.2 percent of the defensive snaps. That's right where he was tracking again in Week 3 before he went down with cramps against the Arizona Cardinals.
San Francisco has badly needed a couple of Day 3 picks to turn into high-quality starters. It's still early, but the returns so far on Halton point toward him one day becoming a very good starter on the interior of their defensive line.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers may have gotten one of 2026 draft's biggest steals
