{"id":811741,"date":"2026-03-14T10:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T10:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/811741\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T10:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T10:29:31","slug":"49ers-news-welcome-to-the-49ers-nate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/811741\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers News: Welcome to the 49ers, Nate!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sfstandard.com\/2026\/03\/13\/kawakami-yeah-49ers-running-back-bold-offseason-thoughts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kawakami: Yeah, the 49ers are running it back, and more bold offseason thoughts<\/a> (paywall) <br \/>\u201cQuestion: Will new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris stick with the 49ers\u2019 traditional 4-3 base defense or tweak it into something more like the 3-4 schemes he\u2019s run previously?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Answer: The 49ers gave up a valuable third-round pick for Odighizuwa, who is about as pure a 4-3 DT as you can get. No, they\u2019re not going to a 3-4 \u2014 I think the most drastic visible change might be more use of a five-man front, which means the 49ers still need an athletic, hybrid DE\/LB to use as that fifth D-lineman in those situations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Question: Will the 49ers do the obvious thing and draft a WR and DE (in whatever order) with their first- and second-round picks?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Answer: Yes. The main way the 49ers could\u2019ve changed course here is if they felt they needed to grab one of the top DTs. Well, no need for that now. They need a speed WR and another impact DE (especially after Bryce Huff\u2019s surprise retirement Thursday). I\u2019ll be very surprised if the 49ers use their top two picks on any other positions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/articles\/199704-things-know-new-49ers-hobbs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">5 things to know about new 49ers CB Nate Hobbs <\/a><br \/>\u201cThe fact that I\u2019m able to sit in front of a plethora of people and tell them about my emotions, that gives me strength,\u201d Hobbs said, per Raiders.com. \u201cI\u2019m willing to put myself out there and still live life. My mom used to always tell me, \u2018Sometimes you just have to do things scared.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Hobbs said he\u2019s dealt with anxiety throughout his life. Among the challenges he\u2019s faced are losing his father when he was 12 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cEverybody deals with mental health, me and you, no matter how well you had it,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cSome people deal with it more than others, some people need real help. If I can be that voice, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/articles\/199700-49ers-indiana-cooper-pre-draft-visit\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">49ers to host Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. on pre-draft visit <\/a><br \/>\u201cAccording to analyst Ryan Fowler, the 49ers are scheduled to host former Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. in Santa Clara for a pre-draft visit. Each NFL team is allowed up to 30 such visits with draft prospects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hutchreport.substack.com\/p\/behind-the-curtain-miami-edge-akheem\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Behind the Curtain: Miami EDGE Akheem Mesidor (paywall)<\/a><br \/>\u201cAs I laid out in the tape, I think Mesidor clearly benefited technique wise from being in college longer, but I\u2019m not sure he\u2019s that much more physically gifted than a lot of his younger college teammates. The bigger concern is his health, as I explain in the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">To me, he\u2019s a craftsman, who wins with power, a low base, extension, and tremendous hands. He surprised me (in a good way) in the run game, albeit with some areas to clean up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sports\/49ers\/article\/49ers-re-sign-gifford-special-teams-star-earns-22075190.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">49ers re-sign Luke Gifford after special teams star earned Pro Bowl honors (paywall) <\/a><br \/>\u201cWith Gifford playing on their coverage and return units, the 49ers ranked seventh in kickoff-return average, 10th in punt-return average and 11th in opponent kickoff-return average. In 2024, they ranked 10th, 20th and 22nd, respectively, in those categories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sports\/49ers\/article\/49ers-salary-cap-went-20-65m-nfl-s-22075584.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why 49ers\u2019 salary cap just went up by $20.65M, NFL\u2019s 2nd-biggest adjustment (paywall) <\/a><br \/>\u201cThe salary cap for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sports\/49ers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco<\/a> 49ers just went up by $20.65 million, according to Spotrac, due to something called a cap adjustment. Baked into that big increase, which ranked second among NFL teams, are insurance policies. The 49ers, in other words, were reimbursed for being one of the most injured teams in the league (again).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Here is how it works. Teams can take out insurance on player contracts to protect against a scenario in which a player misses significant time due to an injury. For example, ESPN reported after star 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa suffered an ACL injury in September that the team would receive a near $7 million credit to its 2026 salary cap, triggered by an insurance policy for a season-ending injury in his existing contract.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 49ers may have written similar policies into the contracts of other key players, including linebacker Fred Warner, who also dealt with a season-ending injury after fracturing and dislocating his ankle in October. As much would help explain their $20 million cap adjustment. Only the Tennessee Titans were awarded a higher credit, at $24.3 million.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kawakami: Yeah, the 49ers are running it back, and more bold offseason thoughts (paywall) \u201cQuestion: Will new defensive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,52307,7,6,1161,252,1137,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-811741","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-links","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","15":"tag-sanfrancisco","16":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116227064761638162","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811741","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=811741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}