{"id":94061,"date":"2025-05-31T20:30:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T20:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/94061\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T20:30:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T20:30:10","slug":"49ers-hoping-rookie-dt-alfred-collins-can-earn-starting-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/94061\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers Hoping Rookie DT Alfred Collins Can Earn Starting Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many expected the 49ers to address the defensive line in the first round of this year\u2019s draft, but the team surprised many when they addressed the edge instead of the interior, taking Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams<\/a> on Day 1. Perhaps, they felt comfortable waiting until Day 2 to address the position because, with its next pick, San Francisco drafted Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins<\/a>, whom they hope can earn a starting role<\/a> on the line as a rookie, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Currently, the starting tackle spots on the defensive line are manned by Jordan Elliott<\/a> and Kevin Givens<\/a>. Elliott joined the team last year after playing out his rookie contract in Cleveland and started 13 of 15 appearances. Pro Football Focus (subscription required<\/a>) has never graded Elliot favorably. The former third-round pick out of Missouri has only once graded in the top 100 players at his position in the NFL and that was this past year, when he ranked 97th out of 118.<\/p>\n

Givens, too, has struggled in the eyes of PFF\u2019s analytics throughout his six years with the team. His roles have been mostly rotational during that time, and although he earned a starting role in 2022 (11 starts in 13 appearances), he only has three starts in his career outside of that season. Last year, Givens was one of several 49ers to miss time with injuries, sitting for nine of the final 10 games<\/a> of the season as he dealt with a pectoral tear.<\/p>\n

Because of this, San Francisco is hoping to see not only Collins, but also fellow rookie CJ West<\/a> and last year\u2019s undrafted rookie Evan Anderson<\/a>, earn significant roles on the line, as well. Anderson, signing with the team out of FAU last year, started one game in 12 appearances last season and graded out most favorably of the interior defenders on the 49ers, per PFF, ranking 49th out of 118 players graded at the position. West was extremely disruptive in four years as a starter in college \u2014 three at Kent State before transferring to Indiana. He had nine sacks and 27 tackles for loss in those four seasons. Although a bit undersized, West adds some pass rushing potential thanks to an impressive arsenal of ferocious moves.<\/p>\n

Collins, though, is the player that was singled out by the staff with hopes of a starting role, per Barrows. What West lacks in ideal size, Collins makes up for with an exceptional 6-foot-5, 332-pound frame. His wide base and long arms give him impressive length, as well. His size doesn\u2019t do him too many favors as a potential pass rusher, but he\u2019s quick-footed enough at his size to erase gaps across the line in run defense. He\u2019s a sure tackler who\u2019s durable enough to handle the workload of a starter, even as a rookie.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got about two more months until training camp, but the next two weeks will see the team\u2019s remaining Organized Team Activities workouts and mandatory minicamp. There\u2019s plenty of time for the youngsters to earn more opportunities for bigger roles between now and the preseason. With hopes that Collins will break through as a strong run-defending starter, the team would ideally be looking to pair him with a defender with strong pass rushing potential like Givens, West, or Anderson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many expected the 49ers to address the defensive line in the first round of this year\u2019s draft, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,583,14165,24852,7,12326,12325,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-94061","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-alfred-collins","10":"tag-cj-west","11":"tag-evan-anderson","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-jordan-elliott","14":"tag-kevin-givens","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","18":"tag-sanfrancisco","19":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114604344928286062","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94061","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=94061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}