The San Francisco 49ers' defensive line has been decimated by injuries, and the front office is scrambling to find bodies. On Wednesday, San Francisco brought in four defensive linemen for workouts, according to the NFL's transaction wire: Matt Judon, Julian Okwara, Jamin Davis and Dawuane Smoot.
Judon, 34, is the biggest name of the bunch. A four-time Pro Bowler who racked up 34.5 sacks over five seasons in Baltimore before a run with the Patriots, Judon has bounced around the last two years from New England to Atlanta to Miami, where the Dolphins waived him in December after a rough 2025 season with zero sacks in 13 games. He finished last year on Buffalo's practice squad.
Okwara, 28, is a former third-round pick out of Notre Dame who spent
his first four seasons with the Lions before journeyman stops in Philadelphia, Arizona and Cleveland. His best year came in 2021, when he posted five sacks for Detroit, but he's totaled just nine sacks across 51 career games since.
Davis, 27, was the 19th overall pick by Washington in 2021 but never developed into the linebacker the Commanders hoped for. He was moved to defensive end late in his tenure there, got cut in 2024, and has since drifted through Green Bay, Minnesota, the Jets, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh without sticking anywhere.
Smoot, 31, is the most experienced of the group, with 27 career sacks over nine seasons almost entirely in Jacksonville, aside from a one-year detour to Buffalo in 2024. He's coming off a 2025 season split between the Jaguars that saw him log just two sacks.
None of these four workouts have translated into a signing yet, but the need is obvious. The49ers already added defensive lineman Viliami Fehoko to the 53-man roster and elevated Kevin Givens and Sebastian Valdez from the practice squad ahead of Sunday's game against the Cardinals.
San Francisco is dealing with a full-blown pass-rush emergency: Nick Bosa is out for multiple weeks, Alfred Collins (torn patellar tendon) and Sam Okuayinonu (broken foot) are done for the season, C.J. West (knee) is on IR, Romello Height (broken hand, surgery) is out for Week 3, James Thompson Jr. (high ankle sprain) will miss weeks, and rookie Mykel Williams remains on PUP recovering from a torn ACL. That's seven bodies off the D-line, which explains why the 49ers are kicking the tires on anyone who can rush the passer.
It will be tough sledding for defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to make do with a cavalcade of players who only just joined the team, but he'll need to figure out what to do as the season progresses.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers work out 4 defensive linemen amid injury crisis
