The San Francisco 49ers\u2019 need for speed became a priority after Bryce Huff retired. The selection of Romello Height was as close to a 1-for-1 as you can get for Huff\u2019s style of play.<\/p>\n
Height comes into the NFL off a fantastic collegiate season playing for one of the best defenses in the sport. He was as much of an impact player as his teammate, who went No. 2 overall.<\/p>\n
Last week, I asked defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to discuss the stress that a first step puts on the opposing offense and why there\u2019s so much emphasis on that today, and whether that\u2019s part of the reason the team brought Height in:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just the belief in National Football League, right? It\u2019s really less about that, but more about how do you mentally and physically affect the quarterback and having the stress of knowing that you\u2019ve got guys with great get off is one of those ways to definitely mentally know that\u2019s going to be a part of it. But, getting to the quarterback and getting to those spots, being able to close space, being able to if you don\u2019t sack them being able to bother people. That\u2019s certainly what Bosa\u2019s has been able to do and obviously Myles. So being able to go out and get guys like Romello and different guys across the board to be able to help us do some of the same things is definitely going to be helpful for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re Height, you\u2019re licking your chops at the situation you\u2019re walking into. Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek couldn\u2019t hide his excitement<\/a> about Height, who was in a tier of his own during individual drills last week. His flexibility and speed were something the Niners could\u2019ve used to threaten quarterbacks last year.<\/p>\n Height\u2019s rookie deal will take up 0.3% of the 49ers\u2019 cap space this season. His base salary is $885,000. Spotrac<\/a> has the rookie wage scale for every pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Height should have a signing bonus of roughly $1.32 million this year. His total contract value over four years will reach $7.29 million.<\/p>\n History has been kind to 3rd-round pass rushers<\/p>\n The Rams drafted a pass rusher out of Michigan in the late third round last season. Despite only playing 360 snaps, he had 26 pressures on three sacks.<\/p>\n