{"id":981149,"date":"2026-08-23T16:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/981149\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T16:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:42:16","slug":"jaden-dugger-playing-with-49ers-fred-warner-dream-come-true-nbc-sports-bay-area-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/981149\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaden Dugger playing with 49ers\u2019 Fred Warner \u2018dream come true\u2019 \u2013 NBC Sports Bay Area & California"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2014 The first time rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger<\/a> walked into the 49ers\u2019 locker room, he tried his best to keep it together.<\/p>\n

The reality hit him quickly. Some of the top NFL players of this generation are his new teammates, including their top running back and wide receiver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got starstruck the first time I saw Christian McCaffrey,\u201d\u00a0Dugger\u00a0told NBC Sports Bay Area on \u201cMeet the Rookies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018That\u2019s Christian McCaffrey right there. Oh, my God.’ I was trying to keep it in. But it\u2019s crazy. It was my first practice, and I was covering Mike Evans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dugger played one season of college football at Georgetown, before transferring to Louisiana, where he played his final two years.<\/p>\n

Dugger played safety, edge rusher and stack linebacker in his three seasons. And the 49ers saw enough from Dugger to select him in the fifth round<\/a> of the 2026 NFL Draft with the No. 154 overall pick.<\/p>\n

He joins a position group<\/a> that includes Fred Warner, a four-time All-Pro selection, and Dre Greenlaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream come true,\u201d Dugger said. \u201cI got to take advantage of this opportunity. I can\u2019t take it for granted. I got to learn from them about how to navigate, not just on the field but off the field. They\u2019ve been in the game for a while, so I have a great opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dugger also has a tremendous opportunity to learn from his position coach<\/a>, too. K.J. Wright started 148 games over his 11-year NFL career, mostly with the Seattle Seahawks. Wright enters his third season on the 49ers’ staff and his first as linebackers coach.<\/p>\n

Dugger has plenty of similarities to Wright. When Wright broke into the NFL, he was 6-foot-4, 246 pounds. Dugger is 6-4 1\/4, 242 pounds. They\u00a0had\u00a0comparable arm length, while Dugger edges Wright\u2019s pre-draft marks in the 40-yard dash, vertical and broad jumps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis being my first offseason in the linebacker room, I\u2019ve learned a lot about how to use my hands better and understanding the game,\u201d Dugger said. \u201cI feel like having an NFL vet and a great coach, and also great leaders in the room like Fred and Dre, they\u2019re helping me learn a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve learned so much since I\u2019ve been here. My mental game has grown so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warner and Greenlaw will hold down the 49ers\u2019 every-down linebacker spots this season. Dugger has a chance to earn playing time at strong-side linebacker. And he knows that going up against the 49ers\u2019 offense during training camp can only expedite his growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I have to come and compete, regardless,\u201d Dugger said. \u201cI have to go against these guys, but I\u2019m still paying my respect to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up as a kid in high school, middle school, seeing these guys play in college and the NFL is great to see. It just lets me know I\u2019m heading in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2014 The first time rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger walked into the 49ers\u2019 locker room, he tried…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":981150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,116784,127010,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":["post-981149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-49ers","tag-49ers","tag-football","tag-jaden-dugger","tag-meet-the-rookies","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfrancisco49ers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117145825649253819","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981149","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=981149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/981150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=981149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=981149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=981149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}