The San Francisco 49ers have plenty of young players for fans to focus on throughout their three preseason games, but defensive lineman C.J. West may be one of the biggest draws for attention of any rookie on the roster.

West, 23, played collegiately at Kent State from 2020-23, earning All-MAC honors once before transferring to Indiana for the 2024 season. In 52 games between his two stops, he recorded 150 tackles (27 for a loss), nine sacks, two passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two fumbles recovered.

Since the 49ers took West in the fourth round (No. 113 overall) of the 2025 NFL draft, he’s been dominating the practice field, especially in one-on-one trench battles. So, it’s no surprise that fans were looking forward to seeing him in action against the Denver Broncos on Saturday.

While you won’t find West’s name on the stat sheet, he did have a few impactful plays, including one where he split a double team to blow up a run.

After the contest, West spoke about that play in particular and how it felt playing in his first NFL game.

“At this level, offensive linemen are smarter, they’re faster, and they know different ways to bend the rules just a little to give themselves an advantage,” West told reporters after the game (transcribed by NBC Sports). “On that play specifically, it was just me sticking to my technique, playing as hard as I possibly could, and understanding that as a rookie, you’re going to get humbled. Today was definitely humbling, going up against the starting offensive line and this other team. There’s a lot to learn in order to get better.”

West may still have a lot to learn before he’s dominating starting linemen in game scenarios, but he seems excited and willing to take on the challenge.

“Consistency, for sure. I have to be consistent in how violent I am with my strike,” West explained. “I need to keep working on that, watch the film, and see where I went wrong and what I did well. I’ll carry that into the next game and into our next practice against the Raiders.”

If West continues to attack each opportunity with the same mindset, he’ll be playing consistent snaps for San Francisco in games that matter soon.

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