{"id":663862,"date":"2026-01-08T13:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/663862\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T13:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:32:11","slug":"49ers-rookie-defenders-stout-collins-will-factor-big-against-eagles-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/663862\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers’ rookie defenders Stout, Collins will factor big against Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2013 Nickel back Upton Stout shone brightest among the 49ers\u2019<\/a> 11-man draft class this season, even if he was the slightest at 5-foot-8 \u00bd inches.<\/p>\n

Now comes his first taste of the playoffs, and he\u2019s flashing back to what he learned from his \u201chard-nosed\u201d upbringing as an undersized but attacking defender at North Shore High-Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything has to be worked for. You can\u2019t just walk into a room and expect the blessings to flow,\u201d Stout said Wednesday. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest thing I learned being young: you have to work for everything if you want to be blessed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stout and defensive tackle Alfred Collins are the only members of the 49ers\u2019 much-ballyhooed 11-man draft class who will play meaningful roles in Sunday\u2019s wild-card game<\/a> between the No. 6-seed 49ers and No. 3-seed Philadelphia Eagles.<\/a><\/p>\n

Heck, that duo may even dictate the defense\u2019s ability to shield off the reigning Super Bowl champs.<\/p>\n

Stout must mute and perhaps antagonize wide receiver A.J. Brown. Asked what he\u2019s expecting from Brown, Stout replied: \u201cHis best. And he\u2019s going to get my best. \u2026 It\u2019s going to be another week. It just means more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins must lead an improved defensive front that can thwart running back Saquon Barkley and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got something to play for: everybody in this locker room,\u201d Collins said. \u201cI know they\u2019ll get my best to help the team out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some might go so far as to call Stout and Collins the 49ers\u2019 best defenders this season, one marred by injuries to Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and first-round pick Mykel Williams.<\/p>\n

Stout (third round) and Collins (second round) certainly have played the most among the 11 draft picks.<\/p>\n

Stout, despite being the No. 3 back for multiple receiver sets, has played 55% of the snaps (593). He\u2019s broken up five passes, made four tackles for loss, made a sack and even forced a goal-line fumble.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had his best game last week and I think he\u2019s had a number of real good games,\u201d coach Kyle Shanahan said. \u201cBut, we\u2019ve been excited since Stout\u2019s gotten here and I thought he\u2019s had a really good rookie year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stout ranks 59th out of 114 cornerbacks in Pro Football Focus\u2019 grading system, noting he\u2019s missed 12 tackles and allowed a 100.4 passer rating when targeted.<\/p>\n

Collins, hindered through the offseason by a calf injury in Texas\u2019 bowl game, ranks 123rd of 134 defensive tackles by PFF. However, he\u2019s flashed with as many memorable plays as any 49ers defender: forcing and recovering a fumble near the goal line against the Rams, sacking Philip Rivers in Indianapolis, and knocking down two passes, including one he scolded himself for not intercepting in Saturday\u2019s 13-3 loss to Seattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to do more. It wasn\u2019t enough,\u201d Collins said. \u201cI should have intercepted that ball. But there\u2019s more ball to play. We\u2019ll take our medicine, get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tight end George Kittle routinely has hailed Collins this season, and defensive lineman Keion White sees promise, stating: \u201cHe\u2019s going to be one hell of a player for us. I really like his mentality. He just goes and gets it done for us. It\u2019s not flashy but he gets it done. He\u2019s big, explosive, powerful, fast, quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the rest of the 49ers\u2019 draft picks, the next-most snaps were by safety Marques Sigle (387; 36%) and Williams (385; 36%) but that was early-season work. Defensive tackle C.J. West (279; 26%) has worked into a rotational role, guard Connor Colby (452; 40%) filled in earlier in the season, but little has come from wide receiver Jordan Watkins (25, 2%), linebacker Nick Martin (15; 1.4%; injured reserve), running back Jordan James 0.3% (3; 0.3%), quarterback Kurtis Rourke (0) and return specialist Junior Bergen (0).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe connection we have is the want to get better,\u201d Stout said. \u201cWe\u2019re all trying to get better and be a sponge to the vets around us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2013 Nickel back Upton Stout shone brightest among the 49ers\u2019 11-man draft class this season, even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2947,1926,1443,7,1921,929,6,84,1161,252,2624,2623,7910,1929,1930,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-663862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-49ers-hq","10":"tag-bay-area","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-inside-sports","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-playoffs","17":"tag-san-francisco","18":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","19":"tag-sanfrancisco","20":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","21":"tag-santa-clara","22":"tag-santa-clara-county","23":"tag-south-bay","24":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}