49ers met with intriguing DL prospect who can help major depth issue

There’s no question about the San Francisco 49ers’ need along their defensive line. It’s a position they should address multiple times in this year’s draft.

While the first round looks like a prime spot for the 49ers to find a key contributor up front, there should be opportunities for them to find additional depth later in the draft. That’s likely where they’d pick up Indiana defensive tackle CJ West, who met with the 49ers at the Shrine Bowl according to the Draft Network’s Justin Melo.

West is a really interesting player who played for five seasons in college. He spent four years at Kent State before transferring to Indiana for the 2024 season.

His production as a run stopper over his final three college seasons really sticks out when figuring out where he’d fit with the 49ers. He wins inside a lot and spends a ton of time in opposing backfields. For a team that struggled stopping the run last year, a player like West who can potentially step in as a rotational DT in Year 1 makes a ton of sense.

West didn’t thrive as a pass rusher in college, which puts some limit on his value as a draft prospect. He posted nine sacks and 84 pressures across his five seasons per Pro Football Focus. West also had issues with missed tackles, posting a career 17.4 percent missed tackle rate. That’s a number he’ll have to clean up if he’s going to be a regularly productive pro.