March 4, 2026, 11:18 a.m. PT

The San Francisco 49ers are digging deep in the NFL draft class at linebacker. They’re set to meet with Missouri LB Khalil Jacobs according to college football analyst Ryan Fowler.

Jacobs’ name won’t be familiar for fans who were locked into the NFL combine because the 22-year-old wasn’t invited the event. It makes sense that teams would be eager to meet with him since he wasn’t in Indianapolis where meetings are one of the primary boxes teams check with prospects in attendance. Fowler reported Jacobs also has visits slated with the New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants.

This is an intriguing player to keep an eye on.

He transferred to Mizzou for the 2024 season, but a pectoral tear in October trimmed his season to just six games. It delayed a potential breakout season in his first year in the SEC. Jacobs spent his first season as a reserve for South Alabama, then posted 56 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and one interception in his second season.

His big 2023 campaign sparked his transfer to Mizzou where he looked poised for another big year when he got hurt.

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In 2025 he put together a strong, healthy season with 47 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. He also notched a pair of pass breakups. Pro Football Focus credited him with 10 quarterback pressures and one QB hit.

This is the type of player the 49ers have liked taking chances on at LB. He’s listed at 6-1, 228 pounds and he moves fluidly in the second level. The Tigers utilized him in a bunch of ways. He rushed the passer from different spots on the line. He also spent plenty of time dropping into coverage where he’d need to be effective in the 49ers’ defense.

It’d be interesting to see if the 49ers did draft Jacobs if they wanted to use him as a project at the Will LB spot, or if they had designs of using him as a chess piece to move around near the line of scrimmage.

Chances are Jacobs, even with a good pre-draft process, won’t be selected early in the three-day process. He checks plenty of boxes for what the 49ers have liked in LBs during the Kyle Shanahan era, though, so he’s worth keeping an eye on.

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